/ersity of 
 outhern Regio] 
 Library Facilitj 

 
 POEMS, 
 
 BY- 
 
 JOSEPH FAWCETT. 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED 
 
 CIVILISED WAR, 
 
 Before publilhcd under the Title of 
 
 THE ART OF WAR, 
 
 With confiderabie Alterations; 
 AND 
 
 THE ART OF POETRY, 
 
 ACCORDING TO THE LATEST IMPROVEMENTS, 
 
 WITH ADDITIONS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for J. JOHNSON, in St. Paul's Church-yarl. 
 
 1793.
 
 /.GIT.
 
 3-VU 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE Author hopes that thofe, who are in 
 pofleffion of the Poem here entitled CIVILISED 
 WAR, and whofe approbation of it ihall in- 
 duce them to purchafe this Volume, will not 
 be forry to find it included in the collection ; 
 as he has endeavoured to correft thofe faults, 
 which an impartial attention to the ftri6lures 
 of his readers, fo far as they have reached his 
 knowledge, has led him to perceive in it. Its 
 former title having occafioned a, miftaken idea 
 of its nature, prior to the perufal of it, is the 
 reafon of his having altered it. The coinci- 
 dence of the Monthly's Review's preference of 
 that which it now bears with his own original 
 felection of it (although he was perfuaded to 
 facwfice his judgment upon this point to that of 
 A 
 
 765719
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 2i7onn(it flom ,rr>- 
 
 a literary friend who recommended the former 
 
 title to him), has determined him to recur to 
 hi S firftchoi. 
 
 K .bni/Ol 3vJ n*:3 VJUJGjd C viivjTSDi ::n:> r JW ttfd 
 
 With regard to the bagatelle at the clofe of 
 
 iis volume, he takes this opportunity of rec- 
 /^ Ki 23f"tc/n ' 
 
 tifying a miftake refpecling his meaning in 
 
 the beginning of it, into which he has found 
 one of his readers falling, and into which it is 
 therefore poffible that others may fall, although 
 he fhould previously have entertained no fufpi- 
 cion of the poffibility of fuch a mifconception . In 
 the paflage alluded to, he has been erroneoufly 
 conceived to make CORRECTNESS in poetical 
 compofition the object of his fatire. He flatters 
 hlmfelf, however, that an attentive reader (if 
 fuch a trifle may be fuppofed entitled to an at- 
 tentive perufal) will readily perceive, that it 
 
 is not corre&nefs which is there ridiculed, but 
 
 
 productions of which correftnefs is the only or 
 
 the chief excellence ; not correftnefs in the ab- 
 ftradt, but correct: dulnefs. While he defpifes 
 trie notion, that negligence is among the fea- 
 tures of Genius, he feels an equal contempt for
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 that chilling fyftem of criticifm, moft injurious 
 to the rights of Genius, which beftows upon the 
 page, where fcarcely a fault can be detected, 
 but where fcarcely a beauty can be found, a 
 degree of approbation which it denies to the ge- 
 nuine fpirit of poetry, when accompanied with 
 marks of careleflhefs. He has likewife been 
 falfely fuppofed by the fame individual, in the 
 fecond branch of the fame poem, to ridicule 
 PLAINTIVE poetry. Of that penfive ftrain 
 which flows from a melancholy mood, and is 
 founded in focial and generous fenfibility, he 
 feels the charm as much as any of its admirers ; 
 and has indulged himfelf in it, as this volume 
 will difcover, in no inconfiderable degree. 
 What he aims to expofe, is that egotifm of 
 complaint, of whichy^fis the incefTant fubjet : 
 and chiefly, that wail of private woe, which, 
 as, in more inftances than one, he has ftrong 
 reafon to fufpeft has been the cafe, is the mere 
 affettation of a forrow that is not felt ; which, 
 mflead of being the vent and relief of fuffering 
 nature, is. the trick of art to produce pathetic 
 effect ; which either flows from a writer vvhofe 
 Aa
 
 Vl PREFACE. 
 
 real feelings are fprightly, or, if it take its 
 gloomy hue from any, derives it from a tar 
 fainter, fhade of actual fadnefs than the deep 
 one which it aflumes. This fpecies of plaintive 
 poetry, at once felfifh, and, in a greater or 
 fmaller degree, infincere, which he has met 
 with, or imagines he has, in productions that, 
 in other refpedts, have yielded him delight, is, 
 he thinks, a proper fubjedt for fatire : not fo 
 much with a view to difparage the works of 
 thofe who have already written in this fpirit, 
 as to prevent their poetical merit from feducing 
 others to follow their example, and thus intro- 
 duce a mournful monotony among the modern 
 productions of the mufe, inftead of that va- 
 riety of ftrain, which variety of talent and 
 temper fhould naturally prompt, and from 
 which the lovers of poetry derive diverfity of 
 entertainment. In writing that little piece, 
 he can fincerely fay, he was not actuated by 
 the fmalleft tincture of illwill towards any one 
 of the writers whom he had in. his eye, for the 
 poetical talents of fome of whom he entertains 
 the moft lively refpect. If his fatire be found
 
 PREFACE. Vii 
 
 deficient in wft, he hopes.it will not be th'ought 
 to want good humour. That was the feeling 
 of his mind in penning every line of it ; a re- 
 gard to the interefts of poetry and tafte was 
 his fole inducement to undertake it ; it is the 
 firft compofition of the kind he has ever writ- 
 ten, and, as his natural tlifpofitions lead him a 
 a totally different way, will probably be the 
 laft. 
 
 The other pieces, which compofe this Vo- 
 lume, contain no fentiments that will do harm 
 to the reader's heart ; while the majority of 
 them are calculated to awaken emotions that 
 will make it better. They almoft all relate to 
 human nature and human life; and are ad- 
 drefled to moral fenfibility, either of the fofter, 
 or the manlier kind. And, however humble 
 a place in the fcale of poetical excellence his 
 readers fliall ultimately allot him, it will ever 
 be a fource of proud fatisfaclion to him to re- 
 member, that the firft poetical effort he fub- 
 mitted to the public eye, \vas neither a fimple 
 attempt to amufe the fancy, nor to foothe the 
 5
 
 "Vili PREFACE. 
 
 heart, but an indignant endeavour to tear away 
 the fplendid difguife, which it has been the bu- 
 finefs of poets, in all nations and ages, to throw 
 over the moft odious and deformed of all the 
 practices by which the annals of what is called 
 civilifed fociety have been difgraced. 
 
 The Mufe's office was by Heav'n dcfign'd, 
 
 To plcafc, inftruft, improve, REFORM mankind. 
 
 CHURCHILL*
 
 -lid 9.dJ 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ELEGIES. 
 
 1. The Fate of Senjibillty - - Page I 
 
 2. The Calamities of Love - - IO 
 
 3. The Miferies of a Guilty Mind - -17 
 
 4. Difappointed Love - -2% 
 
 5. The Miftakcn Fair - - - - 9 
 
 6. Scenes of Early Life - - ~ 33 
 
 7. Solitude - -_- ~ 39 
 
 8. Written on New T"ear*s Day - - 4^ 
 
 9. On the Lofs of Friends - 47 
 IO. Mortality and Hope - - ~ 5 1 
 
 SONNETS. 
 
 1. - - - - 59 
 
 2. - - - - 60 
 
 3. To the Setting Sun - - - - 61 
 
 4. To the Vegetable World - - - 62 
 
 5. Evening - - . - * . 63
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 Change ----- Page 67 
 
 A TranJIation from Statius - - - IO2 
 On Vijiting the Gardens at Ver failles - 108 
 On Vijiting the Gardens at Ermenonville - 113 
 Infancy - - - - - -1 21 
 
 The Contra/I ----- 139 
 
 On the Death of a Young Lady - - 137 
 T/k? Nightingale - - - - 14$ 
 
 of the Author'' s Garden " ^ - 144 
 
 Loui/a; a Song - - - ^ - 147 
 
 To the Sun ; a, Fragment y - - - 149 
 
 To a Canary Bird - . - - - 157 
 To a Robin, who was frightened at the 
 
 jfuthor's approach - - 161 
 
 Ode on the French Revolution - - 167 
 
 ChilifedWar ..... 187 
 
 War Elegy - - - - - 245 
 
 Art of Poetry ----- 255
 
 ELEGIES.
 
 ELEGY I. 
 
 THE FATE OF SENSIBILITY. 
 
 Falls contraria fata rependens. Vino. 
 
 O THOU, of Nature's mental works the pride ! 
 Made of a finer duft, with nicer art ! 
 In whofe etherial, thrilling frame reflde 
 The lively fancy, and the feeling heart ! 
 
 Doubtful, or to lament, or hail thy doom, 
 The Mufe, prophetic, marks thy bofom's glow : 
 She fees the Fates furround the myftic loom ; 
 They weave thee tranfports keen, and pungent woe. 
 
 Anxious, fiie hovers o'er the web the while. 
 Reads, as it grows, thy figur'd ftory there : 
 Now, {he explains the texture with a fmile, 
 And, now, the woof interprets with a tear. 
 B 2
 
 4 ELEGY I. 
 
 Thine is the eye, in earth, and air, and fea, 
 All, or fublime or fair, that finds and feels ! 
 All Nature's glories, all her charms, to thee 
 (Conceal'd from others) partial Heav'n reveals ! 
 
 For thee, the dawn's fine rofe-fuffufion glows; 
 For thee, the purple cloud of evening fhines ; 
 Flushing, for thee, the vernal bloiTom blows; 
 Yellowing, for thee, the fickly year declines. 
 
 'Tis thine to draw refin'd and rich delight 
 Or from the fhaggy wild, or cultur'd plain ; 
 Heav'n's fmiling beams, or (hoots of angry light; 
 Th' expanfive peace, or tumult of the main. 
 
 Thine are the fprightly fcencs of laughing day ; 
 Thine, awful midnight's folemn frarry hour; 
 Thine, the frefh dome on glofify pillars gay; 
 And thine, the ivy-vefted, mouldering tower. 
 
 To pleafe thine ear, foft notes the linnet pours ; 
 And, with grand peal, the deep-ton'd thunder rolls: 
 The ftreamlet murmurs, and the torrent roars ; 
 The zephyr whifpers, and the tempeft howls.
 
 THE FATE OF SENSIBILILY. 
 
 From each or lofty or mellifluous found, 
 Each fair or awful form that iti ikes the fight, 
 Jn Art's wide fphere, or Nature's ample round, 
 'Tis thine to draw refin'd and rich delight. 
 
 Thine is the eye, that with fweet fury rolls 
 O'er the bright page where heroes flrine again ! 
 Where the great energies of generous fouls 
 Repeat their glorious fcorn of Death and Pain ! 
 
 By Vice's fide when Virtue's form is fhown; 
 When bold (he druggies with a heat divine ; 
 Or on her vi<5tor looks fuperior down ; 
 Thine is the page ! the glowing leaf is thine ! 
 
 Nor thy bold joys can Nature's felf confine : 
 At Fancy's FIAT, lo ! new worlds appear ! 
 Fine airy founds, light airy forms are thine ; 
 Sacred from vulgar eye and vulgar ear. 
 
 Each fhade of blifs thou own'ft ; to thee belongs 
 The fweet depreffion of the penfive hour ; 
 Soft fighs that pleafe more than or felVwe fongs, 
 Triumph's loud fliout, or riot's wild uproar.
 
 6 ELEGY I. 
 
 Bleft is thy commerce with a kindred mind \ 
 All focial charms t' enrich the hour unite ! 
 Friendship's pure effluence, feaft of tafte refin'd. 
 The force of reafon, and the play of wit ! 
 
 Should'/l thou, thy fund of fofter foul to prove, 
 Find Beauty's feal impreft on Virtue's (hrine ; 
 And fhould the brilliant eye that lights thy love, 
 On thy young hopes let fall a ray benign ; 
 
 Then fhalt thou throw around the earth thine eye, 
 Nor aught that wakes thy fainteft envy fee ; 
 But, pitying all beneath this ample fky, 
 Deem the wide world of blifs compreft in thee ! 
 
 Fair, in thy field of life, thefe joys appear : 
 Ah ! that unmix'd the lovely harveft grew ! 
 But Nature, when fhe fow'd rich tranfports there, 
 Forth from her hand the feeds of anguifh threw. 
 
 Lo ! in her cave grim Want awaits her prey ! 
 Her frolic prey, that now no evil heeds : 
 Sportful in gay Profufion's flowery way, 
 And thoughtlefs whither each rafh fcotftep leads. 
 7
 
 THE FATE OF SENSIBILITY. 7 
 
 The Mufes' fons no knee to Mammon bend ; 
 No fmiles from Mammon blefs the Mufes' train : 
 'Tis feldom Fortune's rays with Fancy's blend ; 
 111 fuit the arts of fong with arts of gain ! 
 
 Each pulfe for coftly tranfport beating high ; 
 Nor knowing on Diflrefs to clofe thy door ; 
 Won by each firen note, and plaintive figh ; 
 Howe'er it fwell'd, full foon (hall melt thy ftore ! 
 
 Then, fliould not forward eager Friendftiip feek 
 Thy coy defpair, refolv'd thine head to raife, 
 Faft fades thine eye, and fwiftly waftes thy cheek, 
 And Woe's laft friend her beckon foon obeys ! 
 
 Silent thou lay'ft thee down, refign'd to die ; 
 Aid, but of Death, too {lately to implore : 
 No hand of thine, proud fufferer, e'er fhall try 
 Want's faint and fearful knock at Grandeur's door. 
 
 If ills like thefe, from thy warm, heedlefs youth, 
 With watchful fhield, thy guardian Genius ward, 
 Thy focial tendernefs, thy focial truth, 
 Ah 1 who from focial agonies fhall guard? 
 B 4
 
 8 ELEGY I. 
 
 All pale, I view thee, hanging o'er the bed, 
 Where he thou long had'ft valued, breathlefs lies ! 
 To wake the duft thou wilt not know is dead, 
 Thy frantic grief, with wildeft effort, tries ! 
 
 The venom'd tooth that honied lips conceal, 
 Which wounds each breaft that takes the ferpent in, 
 Whofe cruel bite e'en torpid bofoms feel, 
 Oh ! the keen torment it fhall dart thro' thine ! 
 
 But chiefly fiiall thy throbbing bofom prove, 
 How Torture's vultures hearts like thine can tear, 
 If {he, whofe powerful charms have won thy love. 
 Prove unpropitious to thy gentle prayer ! 
 
 Or (hould the faithlefs funmine of her eye 
 Lure tender hope its timid bud tofhow, 
 Soon to (hrink back from cold inconftancy, 
 By chill, inclement frowns forbid to blow ; 
 
 Or, foe of love, fliould fome malignant ftar, 
 Thy miftrefs, kind in-vain and vainly true, 
 From thine extended arms for ever bar, 
 And with relentlefs hate your loves purfue ;
 
 THE FATE" OF SENSIBILITY. g 
 
 Then, nor fhall various fcene, nor lonely fighs, 
 Nor Friendship's tongue, nor Wit's nor Wifdom's 
 
 P a ge, 
 
 Nor all the charm the heavenly Mufe fupplies, 
 Thy brealt's tempeftuous forrovvs foon affuage ! 
 
 For thee, quick kindling at each fairer beam, 
 To whom the glowing, burning foul isgiv'n, 
 For thee, all trembling in each dire extreme, 
 Love has no mean 'tis madnefs, or 'tis heav'n ! 
 
 But, oh ! whate'er the lowering cloud of woe 
 
 * 
 That veils life's beauteous funfhine from thy fight, 
 
 Though ftern AdverGty around thee throw 
 The deepeft fhadows of her tragic night ; 
 
 In Horror's blackeft hour, the hand reflrain, 
 Wild fervice that would yield to mad Defpair, 
 The pointed fteel with impious purple (lain, 
 Or for death- thirfly lips the draught prepare.
 
 IO ELEGY II. 
 
 ELEGY II. 
 
 THE CALAMITIES OF LOVE. 
 
 Written foon after the tragical cataflrophes of the Rev. 
 Mr. Hackman and Major Andre. 
 
 Tanquam hacc fit noftri medicina furoris : 
 
 Aut Deus ille mails hominum mitefcere difcat* Vi R0 
 
 BEAUTY, fweet defpot ! at whofe rofy throne, 
 With fond obeifance, bows the willing earth ; 
 Whofe yoke the brave, whofe fway the fcepter'd, 
 
 own; 
 Say, did the gods, in anger, give thee birth ? 
 
 But to deftroy, bright angel, wert thou fent ? 
 The lovely plague, alluring fcourge of Heav'n ! 
 Was that foft eye, to fcatter torments, meant ? 
 Were thofe fweet fmiles, to kindle anguifh, giv'n?
 
 THE CALAMITIES OF LOVE. II 
 
 Say, with fevere intent, hath Nature frara'd 
 Of all her works the faireft as the laft ? 
 Hath fhe the lily's white, in vengeance, fham'd? 
 In wrath, the morning's purple hues furpaft? 
 
 How oft, red glaring with confuming fire, 
 Has Difcord's torch been lighted at thine eye \ 
 For thee hath fiercely burn'd fraternal ire ; 
 And Friendftiip chang'd to fharpeft enmity ! 
 
 O'erfheltering long the blifsful private fcene, 
 See, difappears the Olive's lovely {hade ' 
 Farewel fair fmiles ! adieu the fweet ferene ! 
 Lo ! Fury's lightening eye, and thirfty blade ? 
 
 From tubes oppos'd explofions dire refound ! 
 The curling fmoke pollutes the rural air ! 
 Ah! fee the finking youth ! the flowing wound! 
 Why wert thou form'd, contefted maid, fo fair? 
 
 To green retreats, not gentle fighs alone, 
 And foft defpondence, Love's fad flave has borne : 
 Thither, with murderous hate the wretch has flown! 
 There the dark frown of vengeful anger worn I
 
 ELEGY II. 
 
 There, not alone on the tree's letter'd rind, 
 The pointed fteel has Beauty's pow'r confeft ; 
 Her fatal empire o'er the captive mind, 
 Other than fylvan wounds have oft expreft. 
 
 Of mournful ghofts, lo ! yonder fullen groupe ! 
 Succefslefs love confum'd their youthful bloom : 
 The fighing parent mark'd them ceafelefs droop ; 
 And wept in anguifh o'er their early tomb. 
 
 Oft has Eclipfe his raven fhadow thrown, 
 Where orient Health difplay'd her freftaeft ray ; 
 With brighteft beam where dawning Genius (hone; 
 And morning Virtue {hed her cleareft day. 
 
 View the fad vi6Hm ! where are now the fires, 
 Kindled at Heav'n, that once illum'd his look ? 
 That drooping breaft no more the Mufe infpires: 
 At once of Joy, and Peace, and Hope, forfook. 
 
 Ah ! why did Fate permit his heedlefs eye 
 The graces of an heavenly form to trace ? 
 Or why, the lovely wonder feen, deny 
 That heavenly form to his devout embrace ?
 
 THE CALAMITIES OF LOVE. 13 
 
 What lenient herb his throbbing wound can eafe? 
 His faded health what healing fpring reftore ? 
 No more can Fancy's fairefl vifions pleafe, 
 Nor Friendfliip's kindeft accent (both him more. 
 
 Yet with what rapture once that bofom glow'd 
 In his bleft path what flowers did Fancy drew ! 
 Ere yet at fcornful Beauty's ihrine he bow'd ; 
 Ere yet the pang of flighted love he knew. 
 
 No tears he fried, fave pity's foothing tear : 
 No flghs he breath'd, fave pity's pleafing figh : 
 Joy's fweeteft rofes bloom'd all round his year, 
 And life's moft golden funfhine drefs'd his fky. 
 
 'Tis pail. Gay tranfport fires his breaft no more ! 
 Farewel the peace which once his bofom knew ! 
 The charm of life, the .fmile of youth, is o'er; 
 And each rich pitture Hope's wild pencil drew. 
 
 Not him, whofe mi Id dejection's fleeting mood, 
 Penfive, attends the tuneful bird of eve ; 
 Whofe light-felt woe, in lenient folitude, 
 Voluptuous fighs confole, and tears relieve ;
 
 14 ELEGY II. 
 
 Not him who, fond o'er night's ftill fcenes to rove, 
 With cherifh'd fadnefs fmiles upon the moon ; 
 Or vents, in foothing plaints, a languid love, 
 Where fylvan glooms exclude the flaring noon ; 
 
 Not him I mourn : it is not he has bled : 
 I mourn whofe deeper love endures defpair ; 
 Who, fick of life, and to all comfort dead, 
 Heaves no fweet figh, nor fheds one pleaflng tear. 
 
 At dead of night, the lightening's pale blaze (hows 
 His paler face ; along the blafted heath, 
 Wild as the ftorm, the man of trouble goes, 
 Eyes the black cloud, and courts the bolt of death ! 
 
 In vain, for him, morn lifts her fmiling light ; 
 In vain, for him, afcends the radiant day: 
 No dawn within him knows the unvaried night ; 
 Impervious e'en to comfort's twilight ray. 
 
 No friend's familiar face he feems to know ; 
 Nor will his fallen tongue to aught reply : 
 In liftlefs abfence loft, abforb'd in woe, 
 Nor heeds he what is faid, nor who is by.
 
 THE CALAMITIES OF LOVE. 15 
 
 But ah ! what means his fudden-alter'd look? 
 The frightful fmile that grimly lights his face ? 
 What were the founds his lips' quick motion fpoke ? 
 And whither darts he, in that hurried pace ? 
 
 Fly after him, ye angels of the good ! 
 Purfue his fteps, and fhield his foul from ill ! 
 He feeks the centre of the wide-fpread wood, 
 Whofe penfive ihades hang on yon tumid hill : 
 
 See ! lightens, mid the glooms, the fpark-touch'd 
 
 grain ! 
 
 The frighted echoes a dread burft repeat ! 
 Soon, in that fad recefs, fome trembling fwain 
 Finds vanquifh'd Reafon'spierc'd and {hatter 'd feat! 
 
 To penfive Memory's ruminating eye, 
 The recent fcenes of tragic love arife ! 
 Scarce yet the public tears, they drew, are dry ; 
 From Pity's lip fcarce parted yet the flghs ! 
 
 At yon full theatre the chariot waits ; 
 
 Its miftrefs comes * ; the torches light her way ; 
 
 Gay fmiles the nymph; as darkly lower the 
 
 Fates ; 
 But one fhort moment fhall that face be gay : 
 
 * Mifs Reay.
 
 l6 I.LKGY II. 
 
 Hark ! with dire found the long Piazza rings ! 
 Down finks the maid ! amazement chills the throng ! 
 Ah ! what is man, when jealous fury (lings ? 
 Thy murderer, fair one, was thy lover long ! 
 
 And when (hall gentle hearts the tale forget 
 Of him f whofe bark the vaft Atlantic plough'd ; 
 Studious to lofe, in battle's furious heat, 
 Love's milder flames, and find an early fhroud. 
 
 For (he, the maid whom more than life he loves, 
 By one more bleft, to Hymen's bower is led : 
 Farewel, for ever then, my native groves ! 
 I go to perifh where the valiant bled. 
 
 TOD foon he falls : but not as fall the brave : 
 Oblivious darknefs blot th' inglorious day ! 
 Sad Pity fits and weeps upon his grave ; 
 While bluihing Honour turns his eye away. 
 
 f Major Andre.
 
 THE MISERIES OF A GUILT? MIND. 17 
 
 ELEGY III. 
 
 THE MISERIES OF A GtflLTY MIND* 
 
 Cur tamcn ho tu 
 
 Evafifle putes, quos diri confcia fafti 
 Mens habet attonitos, et furdo verbere catdit 
 Occultum quatiente animo tortore flagellum ? JuV. 
 
 SEEST thou yon fpacibus park whole fwelling trees, 
 In groupes irregularly pleafing, rife, 
 O'er land that heaves and falls with happieft eafe, 
 And long allures the paufing traveller's eyes ? 
 
 Seeft thou yon maim'doldman,whofepatienttread 
 Speaks the worn pilgrim ; brown with many a fun ; 
 In rags of dull obliterated red, 
 That haply witnefs'd long paft battles won ! 
 
 Hear'ft thou as halts the reverend cripple flow ; 
 As his dim eyes the itately feat defcry ; 
 (Shaking the thin white hairs that ftreak hisbrow ; ) 
 Hear'ft thou the hoary veteran breathe a figh ? 
 C
 
 J$ ELEGY III. 
 
 Thou think'ft he envies : true, he owns no honte j 
 True, tho' his youth was brave, his age wants bread: 
 Than heav'n'&high arch he boafts no other dome; 
 Than earth's green lap he knows no other bed. 
 
 Thou think'ft he envies: No ; from pity rofe 
 That deep-drawn figh ; the breath of generous pain \ 
 Full well the houfelefs, friendlefs wanderer knows, 
 An heavier heart thaji his yon walls contain. 
 
 'Tis CRUEL guilt thofe ftately walls reward ! 
 'Tis CONSCIOUS guilt that pines amid its prize ! 
 Wages of deeds that pardon's door have barr'd, 
 Bloom in thofe woods, in thofe high turrets rife I 
 
 The patient fky's calm fufferance ceafe to blame, 
 That lets him thus in fmiling Eden dwell : 
 No angel need, with fword of awful flame, 
 The tenant of thofe profperous fliades expel. 
 
 He is ejected from his blifsful bow'rs ; 
 No blifs for him the fweet alcoves contain : 
 In vain, for him, Spring paints her faireft flow'rs ; 
 And the broad umbrage fpreads, for hinij in vairs 
 4
 
 MISERIES OF A GUILTY MIND. 19 
 
 Invoke no vengeful fire from heav'n, to finite 
 The fylvan honours of his beauteous lands : 
 Sear'd by thy light'ning, Confcience, in his fight, 
 All the dry fcene one blafted ruin ftands ! 
 
 To thee, 'tis fvveet to mark this wavy ground, 
 Here fwell in hills, and there in vales decline; 
 But ah ! to him 'tis defert all around ! 
 It is not bis, the fair domain is thine ! 
 
 To the retiring patriot's vacant hour 
 What foft repofe thefe quiet {hades would lend ! 
 How fweetly his unbending mind embower, 
 And footh to private eafe the public friend ! 
 
 Hither the laurel'd writer might retreat, 
 Whofe honeft pen obtains him juft applaufe; 
 And, pleas'd, reflect, in this elyfian feat, 
 On errors quell'd, and Truth's advancing caufe ! 
 
 Wand'ring with leifure ftep thefe glades along, 
 Here too in peace might private Worth retire j 
 To tafte the page of knowledge or of fong, 
 Wipe neighbouring tears, anclblifs around infpire ! 
 
 C 3
 
 iO ELEGY ill. 
 
 Here, in life's fober ev'ning, how ferene 
 Might virtuous Age the blamelefs day review : 
 And calmly hope, while autumn fades the green, 
 That frding man (hall his loft bloom renew. 
 
 Or, in life's rapturous morn, from grove to grove, 
 With carelefs ftep, young Innocence might ftray ; 
 And fwcep, with idle hand, the lyre of love ; 
 Or in romantic vifions wafte the day. 
 
 But in what region fmiles that witching fpot, 
 Can (till a conference- goaded wretch's groans ? 
 The dreadful paft fhall never be forgot, 
 E'en here, by him who this elyfium owns ' 
 
 Intruding terrors, in this fweet retreat, 
 Thro' all the fcreening fhades their paflage forc<J ; 
 Thefe trees (hall flicker him from fummer's heat, 
 Shut out his funs, but ne'er exclude remorfe. 
 
 By thefe pure gales, thefe balmy zephyrs fed, 
 Her bloom on others Health woultf here beflow : 
 His cheek, alas ! remains a fterile bed, 
 Where her fair :ofes ftill refufe to blow.
 
 THE MISERIES OF A GUILTY MIND, 7,1 
 
 Thefe bowery folitudes, to others dear, 
 
 Where Peace may 'fcape from noife, and hide from 
 
 noon. 
 
 To him are loft, who, froze with guilty fears, 
 Dares not to think, and dreads to be alone. 
 
 'Tis nought to him, that thro' embracing boughs 
 The piercing fun fcarce finds a fcanty way, 
 O'er the dark path a fritter'd fplendour throws, 
 Sprinkling the fylvan night with drops of day. 
 
 Thefe woods contain no Dryads for his dreams ; 
 No dancing Graces prefs his velvet green : 
 Nor Naiads lave them in his filver ftreams : 
 Far other airy people haunt the fcene ! 
 
 Far other fhapes than claffic Fancy pleafe, 
 Far other than poetic vifions rife ! 
 Pale injur'd forms, the trembling wanderer fees, 
 Glide thro' his fhades, and fix reproachful eyes ! 
 
 Oft has attentive Pity mark'd his walks ; 
 And watch'd each fign that fpeaks the troubled bread \ 
 He ftarts at nothing ! and to nothing talks ! 
 Nor e'er are fecn his bufy lips to reft !
 
 23 ELEGY III. 
 
 His roving foot oft fudden will he ftay 
 
 And long time ftand, as to the earth he grew ; 
 
 Sudden he wakes, and hurries on his way, 
 
 And hisquick flaps announce what thoughts purfue ! 
 
 A flave behind him, conftant as his fhade, 
 From folitude his mute protector, treads : 
 111 fares the coward of himfelf afraid ! 
 No guard can e'er repulfe the foes he dreads. 
 
 The focial band has feen him abfent fit ; 
 Heard the flol'n figh the bofqm's load betray ; 
 Of fickly gladnefs mark'd the languid fit ; 
 And mark'd the mournful ftruggle to be gay. 
 
 Lefs biting cares th' oblivious bowl has drown'd ; 
 
 His keener forrows find no Lethe there : 
 
 They wake, when wine, and mirth, and fong go 
 
 round, 
 Break the gay circle, nor the raptures fhare. 
 
 Fad gnaws the inward worm its withering prey ; 
 The fading face reveals the mortal pain ; 
 The wide-fpread pomp is paffing fwift away ; 
 Thypenfive eye (hall feek him foon in vain.
 
 DISAPPOINTED LOVE; 
 
 ELEGY IV. 
 
 DISAPPOINTED LOVE. 
 
 Auro conciliatur amor. OVID* 
 
 WHERE yonder ivy clafps Religion's dome, 
 
 And in its veft of folemn green attires ; 
 
 Where the high grafs looks down on man's laft 
 
 home, 
 And each bafe weed above him proud afpires ; 
 
 A youth is laid, who long ne'er knew to clofe 
 Thofe eyes, that now are clos'd for ever there : 
 No more in Virtue's caufe his bofom glows ; 
 No more on Mifery drops his honeft tear. 
 
 Mild as the breath that fans the vernal fky, 
 His foul, Benevolence, was all thine own ! 
 Open as day, in his ingenuous eye, 
 Th' unclouded rays of guilelefs candour {hone 1 
 C 4
 
 34 ELEGY IV. 
 
 'Twas not in anxious friendfhip's foothing aid, 
 'Twas not in potent med'cine's lenient art, 
 Of fixt defpair to raife the drpoping head, 
 To heal the bruifes of a wounded heart. 
 
 He heard not him whofe words eflay'd to fave, 
 Or gloomy fmil'd at Comfort's idle breath ; 
 ^oathing his food, and longing for his grave, 
 Henurs'd the dreadful appetite of death. 
 
 Shy and unfocial was he wont to roam, 
 With carelefs hand attir'd, in crazy mood ; 
 All heedlefs, or of hours, or friends, or home, 
 The polifli'd favage of the fhaggy wood. 
 
 Unwarn'd by dewy nights' defcending (hade, 
 (Ah ! 'tis not ficknefs hardy Sorrow fears !) 
 Unwearied with his way, the rambler ftray'd, 
 And liv'd on Mis'ry's bitter meat, his tears ! 
 
 His ardent heart for one too lovely burn'd ; 
 By one too fair that ardent heart was broke : 
 He felt the tranfport of a love return 'd ; 
 He felt the torment of a heart forfook.
 
 DISAPPOINTED LOVE. 2^ 
 
 He knew her in her childhood's artlefs day ; 
 Him of the tiny throng (he lov'd the beft ; 
 Her infant favours blefs'd the hour of play, 
 The fairy miftrefs of his baby breaft. 
 
 Then, to her little favorite was Ihe true ; 
 Succefslefs, then, each cherub rival ftrove ; 
 With growing years the mutual fondnefs grew, 
 Till ripen'd Beauty's blufh proclaim'd it love. 
 
 Yet with that blufh, to Beauty's felf that lent 
 A dearer charm and more bewitching grace, 
 The artlefs fmile of undifguis'd confcnt 
 Beam'd fwcetly forth, and fhar'd an angel face I 
 
 Oh, tranfports pure ! that wings ye had not worn I 
 Fleeting, as pure ! for, ah, too fwift ye flew ! 
 Full foon the lover (with what anguiuh torn !) 
 Found the fair objet of his truft untrue. 
 
 A fuitor came ; Fortune's high plumes he bore ^ 
 All gay in Fortune's fumptuous car he came; 
 Of all -feducing wealth a boundlefs ftore 
 JLcnt a refiAlefs fplendour to his claim.
 
 a6 ELEGV ir. 
 
 On the bright claim each dazzled parent {mil'd, 
 Of rapturous love the wild romance deride, 
 Seduce with fpecious words their yielding child, 
 And fling the garb of prudence o'er their pride. 
 
 With filial rev'rence Vanity confpir'd ; 
 Vifions of Grandeur to her fancy rife ! 
 The glittering phantom foon her bofom fir'd, 
 And Truth's chafte colours fade before her eyes. 
 
 Now, to her mind a mournful form appears ! 
 Reproach and mute defpair poflefs his face ! 
 Now, pomp's bright fhapes, returning, dry her tears, 
 And from the fcene the injur'd phantom chafe. 
 
 Thenceforth to him, fad exile from her eyes, 
 Heav'n's lightfome vault feem'd Horror's dreary- 
 cave : 
 
 Of her's bereft, no fmile of earth or fkies 
 Could lure his wifh from yonder peaceful grave ! 
 
 Soon of that facred tower each leaping bell 
 Proclaimed another's triumph to his ear ; 
 Of each fond hope extinft he heard the knell J 
 The feftive founds infulted his defpair !
 
 TDISAPPOINTED LOVE. 27 
 
 But heal'd are all his wounds : his woes arc paft : 
 Still lies his quiet heart to move no more : 
 The agitated thing has ftopp'd at laft, 
 And giv'n its wild tumultuous beatings o'er. 
 
 Yonder he lies ; the grafs has cloth'd his grave : 
 Ah ! 'tis the grave alone confoles Defpair ! 
 There, fair deferter, has thy tranquil flave 
 Forgot thy face, nor knows that thou art fair. 
 
 Sad penitent ! too late thy tears deplore 
 A lofs, life's brilliant fcenes can ne'er fupply: 
 Full foori the bafelefsjoys of pride are o'er* 
 The Mufe has heard thee, 'mid thy fplendours, figh ! 
 
 Not ftately roofs, nor India's rich array ; 
 , Nor public admiration's flatt'ring eye ; 
 Nor blaze of tapers, nor the concourfe gay ; 
 Nor all the breath of warbling Italy ; 
 
 Have power to heal the lacerated breaft, 
 By keen regret of love's loft pleafures torn ! 
 Have power to charm that living pang to reft 
 "\yhich mourns a faithful lover left forlorn!
 
 a8 ELEGY IV. 
 
 Of crowns and garlands could the fhowy pride 
 Confole the pagan victim's ebbing life ? 
 Could fweeteft odours {both it as it died ? 
 Or incenfe foften the keen-pointed knife ? 
 
 Inhuman fathers ! who to Hymen's fane 
 The lovely victims of your av'rice lead ; 
 Deck'd by your mocking hands with trappings vain, 
 fo writhe in ribbands, and in pomp to bleed.
 
 tHE MISTAKEN FAIR. 
 
 ELEGY V. 
 
 THE MISTAKEN P AIR. 
 
 Sufficit, et longum probitas perdurat in aevum ; 
 
 Perque fuos annos hinc bene pendet amor. OVID^ 
 
 THE laughing Delia, free from every care, 
 Leads the light dance, and fcorns Horatio's pain : 
 On airy Florio fmiles the partial fair> 
 The fofteft trifler of her idle train. 
 
 No tender .pains the eafy Florio knows ; 
 Ne'er generous tear in Florio's eye was feen : 
 Yet from his tongue the polifh'd accent flows ; 
 And all the graces meet to form his mien. 
 
 Miftaken maid ! ah, fay, will eafy air, 
 And courtly phrafe, thine orb of blifs complete ? 
 Suffice to foothe thee in thine hour of care ? 
 And make retirement's fober moments fweei ?
 
 30 ELEGY V. 
 
 Ah ! foon the flolen tear, the lonely figh; 
 Deluded fair, full oft fhalt thou renew ; 
 When the gay youth that glitters in thine eye, 
 Too late thou find'ft untender and untrue. 
 
 It is not he, that moft harmonious moves ; 
 The graceful mafter of the mazy dance ; 
 Whofe manag'd eye, as o'er the fair it roves, 
 With art unerring, aims the meaning glance ; 
 
 It is not he, can life's whole blifs impart : 
 Beneath thy preffure that Weak flay fhall bend : 
 Oh, fondly feek, to prop thy leaning heart, 
 The manly lover who includes the friend ! 
 
 On him, with farfe dependence, reft thy mind : 
 That pillar ne'er the tender weight (hall fail : 
 Thy tendril heart, round worth's firm column 
 
 twiri'd, 
 Shall clafp fupport when rudert winds afTail. 
 
 Seek not the idle hand, expert to place 
 
 The flow*ry garland on thy feftive brow ; 
 
 Be that thy fearch,' which from thy tearful Face, 
 
 With gentleft touch, (hall wipe the flowing woe;
 
 THE MISTAKEN FAIR. 3! 
 
 Not him, reclin'd in carelefs bovv'rs, that knows 
 
 Into the pipe its fofteft foul t' infufe ; 
 
 Who beft can whifper to thy throbbing woes 
 Comfort's fweet words, let wife affe&ion choofe- 
 
 Oh, hear not him that kneels with happieft grace, 
 And clafps his hands with moft theatric" air, 
 With fmootheft praife extols that beauteous face, 
 In fofteft accent tells thee, Thou art fair ; 
 
 Hear who his tale with glowing plainnefs frames, 
 With fpeechlefs breaks and unembelliih'd phrafe ; 
 Or whofe foft fighs betray his hidden flames, 
 And eyes in filence eloquently gaze. 
 
 The liquid fplendour from thine eye that flows, 
 Thy polifh'd brow, afk not who now admires ; 
 That blooming form, while yet with youthjt glows, 
 Enquire not whofe fond ardour now defires; 
 
 Afk who, when Time has quench'd that dazzling 
 
 eye, 
 
 And marr'd the fmoothnefs of that glafly brow, 
 And on that cheek bade all the rofes die ; 
 Who then will love thee as he loves thee now.
 
 ELEGY V. 
 
 Yet wide from him thine erring wiftics ftfay : 
 Yet not for him the Fates thofe beauties mean : 
 Far from thine ear he bears his fighs away, 
 To feek oblivion where thy form's unfeen.
 
 SCENES OF EARLY LIFE. 33 
 
 ELEGY VI. 
 
 WRITTEN ON REVISITING THE SCENES OF 
 EARLY LIFE. 
 
 Heu ! fero revocatur juventa. 
 
 x TlBULL. 
 
 HAIL, lovelieft fcene thefe eyes have e'er furvey'd! 
 Where my gay childhood innocently grew ; 
 Where oft my feet with truant paftime play'd, 
 And my warm youth life's frefhefl. pleafures knew ! 
 
 Roll back, ye hafty funs, and bring again 
 Thofe days of gold, then ftand for ever ftill ! 
 Ere thro' my frame had pierc'd the fhaft of pain ; 
 Ere my warm fpirits care had learn'd to chill. 
 
 Delightful Hope ! gay, laughing prophetefs ! 
 The flattering painter of Futurity ! 
 That told'ft me I mould feel unmingled bli&; 
 Come, tell me o'er again the charming lie ! 
 D
 
 34 ELEGY VI. 
 
 Repeat that tale I heard of days to come ; 
 
 All rich with bright impoffibilities ! 
 
 Walks always fmooth, and flowers of lafting bloom, 
 
 And thornlefs rofes, and unclouded flues ! 
 
 Wild, wanton promifer ! that told'il this bread, 
 This trufting breaft, it ne'er fhould tafte of pain ; 
 By fmiling Fates with boundlefs love careft ! 
 The charming lie, come, tell me o'er again ! 
 
 Return that health which bloom'd without mycare ; 
 Came uninvok'd, and, though neglected, ftaid : 
 Which afk'd nor lenient herb, nor fount, nor air, 
 Contemn'd all danger, and defpis'd all aid. 
 
 Again, my bofom glow as then it glow'd ; 
 When round I look'd, and felt that all was fair ! 
 When high on rapture's eagle-wing I rode ; 
 Tower'd to the fun, and fpurn'd the clouds of care ! 
 
 Thofe flumbers found again my fenfes bind, 
 That made but one fweet inftant all my night; 
 That heard nor barking cur, nor howling wind, 
 Nor Time's deep v folemn toll proclaim his flight.
 
 SCENES OF EARLY LIFE. 35 
 
 And, oh ! the fervours, Heav'n, renew, that ran 
 Through ray young nerves, (fenfation all divine !) 
 Ere broke that golden dream whichjihow'd me man, 
 Not fairer in his form, than pure within. 
 
 Ere yet Surprife had made her fearful ftart, 
 As hell-born Villainy firft meets the view ! 
 That fmootheft fmiles oft mafk a frowning heart, 
 Ere yet my blifsful inexperience knew 
 
 Give me again in all men to confide ; 
 Again fufpicion from my breaft be driv'n ; 
 Still would I view my kind with gen'rous pride, 
 And deem the word of man the word of Heav'n. 
 
 And take once more your turn, ecftatic days! 
 When life's vaft curtain rofe, and blefs'd my view ! 
 Lo ! the gay plumes, the fpangles, and the blaze ! 
 All wondrous bright, enchanting all, and new ! 
 
 Move my (till breaft, fwect Novelty, again ! 
 Again with wild delight my paffions dance ! 
 Return the bounding heart, the fever'd brain, 
 Return the years of tranfport and romance ! 
 D 2
 
 36 ELEGY VI. 
 
 But, chief, that fvveet furprife reftore me, Fate, 
 Young Fancy felt in Academia's hall ; 
 The mufe of Rome and Greece as firft (he met, 
 And each quick paflion own'd her mighty call ! 
 
 On the bright plains when FEAR firft bent her gaze, 
 Where, back'd by gods, immortal heroes ftrove ! 
 At dead of night, view'd Ilium's funeral blaxe, 
 And ihook, with heav'n, beneath the nod of Jove ! 
 
 When firft youngPiTY wept with He&or's wife, 
 As her fall'n hero to her fight appears ; 
 Saw Ajax' fwbrd cafe it's griev'd lord of life ; 
 And fwell'd the flood of exil'd Ovid's tears ; 
 
 And trac'd that flagging jav'lins languid flight, 
 An old man's trembling anger faintly threw ; 
 Mock'd by the foe, 'who, in a father's fight, 
 The flying fon, with barb'rous fury, flew : 
 
 Saw him, o'er fcepter'd fubje&s that had reign'd., 
 Of all vaib Afia that had worn the crown, 
 An headlefs corfe, unburied on the fand, 
 By no one honour'd, and to no one known !
 
 SCENES OF EARLY LIFE. 37 
 
 And fliar'd his figh, who, in the myrtle grove, 
 The unforgiving fair obfcurely knew ; 
 From him (too late return'd) who fled her love, 
 Cold, in her turn, the fcornful fhadow flew : 
 
 Tho' woo'd with tears, the phantom fliot away, 
 Nor injur'd Beauty's ftately filence broke ; 
 Heedlefs of all he now would idly fay, 
 T' excufe the fails that her kind fhore forfook, 
 
 And give me, Nature, once again to prove, 
 Thofe dear, delirious, agitated days, 
 When woke within me firft the throb of love, 
 And radiant Beauty dazzled firft my gaze ! 
 
 Soft idle hours ! when Reafon fat retir'd, 
 And Fancy o'er me all her influence threw ! 
 When, fave what Laura's changeful eyes infpir'c], 
 No hopes I cherifh'd, and no fears I knew ! 
 
 Refume, bleft Lunacy, thy pleafing fway ! 
 Return the wild delight, the penfive figh, 
 The airy fonnet, and the plaintive lay, 
 The moonlight walk, and fweetly fleeplefseye !
 
 38 ELEGY VI. 
 
 Enchanted grounds ! o'er which I vacant ftray'd, 
 In bowers of fragrance where I carelefs fat, 
 While more than earthly muflc round me play'd, 
 To a fad outcaft ope again your gate ! 
 
 Ah ! fwift-wing'd joys ! for ever, ever, flown ! 
 Ah, fruitlefs revocation, fond and vain ! 
 Adieu, bleft days, that muft but once be known ! 
 Farevvel, delights, I may not tafte again ! 
 
 Come, Virtue, when all other joys retreat, 
 
 Still conftant found! and, fmilingFriend{hip,com! 
 
 And beauteous Truth ! now gaudier beams have 
 
 fet, 
 Gild, with your mild and lunar rays, my gloom.
 
 SOLITUDE. 39 
 
 ELEGY VII. 
 
 SOLITUDE. 
 At fecura quies, et nefcia fallcre vita. Vi no . 
 
 HAIL, facred Solitude, ordain'd hy Heav'n, 
 The nurfe of Wifdom, and the friend of Woe ! 
 Oh, give a bofora, which thou oft haft giv'n, 
 Thy high, myfterious pleafures ftill to know. 
 
 Still let thy filent train my call obey ; 
 Wild Fancy, whom nor earth nor air confines ; 
 With heavenly Truth, whom robes of light array ; 
 And Virtue, throbbing with fublime defigns ! 
 
 To thee I fly from folly and from noife : 
 Far fweeter is thy fhade than tinfel fhovv ! 
 Ah ! ne'er may guilt difturb thy peaceful joys, 
 Cloud thy fweet fmile, and change thee to a foe ! 
 
 Yet not the face of lov'd mankind I fly ; 
 Yet not to cloifters, nor to caves I go ; 
 In mean inglorious indolence to lie, 
 No more to bind the bleeding heart of Woe. 
 D 4
 
 4O ELEGY VII. 
 
 No four mifanthropy this bofom fteels ; 
 No fpleen has o'er it flung its ugly ftain : 
 Long has it felt, and ftill it deeply feels, 
 The focial pleafure, and the focial pain. 
 
 Ne'er, Nature, let me take my fullen flight 
 From the fweet duties of the focial fphere : 
 Ne'er, Mifery, let me banifti from my fight, 
 While I can wipe it off, thy piteous tear. 
 
 And fweet as is the light, lone Reafon pours, 
 And fweet though Fancy's airy ramblings be, 
 111 can 1 brook to lofe the golden hours, 
 Immortal Friendmip, that are crown'd by thee ! 
 
 Let him, I trufted, prove my judgment weak; 
 The mouth that ate my bread, aflail my name ; 
 The haunts of men I ftill muft fondly feek, 
 Nor all the race, with rafti injuftice blame. 
 
 Yet will not warm Philanthropy forbid, . 
 Yet fhall not Friendmip lure me to forego, 
 Thofe filent ecftacies that, oft, when hid 
 From all but Heav'n, within my bofom glow I
 
 SOLITUDE. 41 
 
 Yes, hours there are, when not the polifh'd tongue, 
 Like thy fweet founds, O Solitude, can pleafe ! 
 Thy lulling infet-hum, wikl woodland fong, 
 Soul-foothing turtle, and peace- whifpering breeze ! 
 
 With fuch companions let me carelefs ftray, 
 When eve's long {hades adorn the yellow fcene ; 
 
 My fancy vivid as her golden ray, 
 
 My paffions as her fofteft breath ferene J 
 
 By wrath unruffled, unobfcur'd by care, 
 All calm within, and clear as azure day, 
 The paft unfpotted, and the future fair, 
 Up yonder hill I'll wind my blifsful way. 
 
 Thence, as mine eyes o'er the bright landfcape ftray. 
 Hills, vales, and flocks, andftreams, and meads, and 
 
 groves ; 
 
 Mildly magnificent and chaftely gay ; 
 Rich in the hues and lines that Fancy loves ; 
 
 Thence, lift'ningto the joys that load the gale; 
 The warbled fong each echoing grove that fills ; 
 The bleat afcending from the fleecy vale ; 
 The low foft fwelling from atboufand hills: .
 
 42 ELEGY VII. 
 
 To thce, fair Source of all the touching fcene! 
 On kindling rapture's wing of fire, to thee, 
 My foul (hall mount, whofe potent fmile ferene 
 Bad joy exift, and all this beauty be ! 
 
 Then, while I hail each meaner creature bleft, 
 O'er man, the joylefs lord of all below, 
 One tear fhall fall ; for he hath fold his reft 
 For fplendid indigence and dazzling woe ! 
 
 O'er them I'll weep, who, vex'd with guilt or care, 
 From thy bright fcenes where countlefs beauties 
 
 fhine, 
 
 Oh Nature ! fly to Art's nodurnal glare, 
 And deem ker theatres more fair than thine ! 
 
 And ye, that hafle to Grandeur's dazzling rays, 
 Shall have my figh ! light, airy, thoughtlefs, things, 
 That fondly hover round the dangerous blaze, 
 Soon the confuming fire ftiall catch your wings ! 
 
 Then let me praife the Power that made my lot 
 A frugal board beneath an humble fhed : 
 No harpy cares come nigh the facred cot ; 
 No (hafts are level'd at the lowly head.
 
 SOLITUDE. 43 
 
 When my pleas'd eyes have drank the fmiling fcene, 
 Ye woods, whofe glooms relieve each wanton light, 
 Clothing yon ambient hills with woolly green, 
 Long o'er my path let fall your leafy night ! 
 
 Your outward wealth the eye unwilling leaves : 
 Phalanx of foliage ! Vaft, embodied fhade ! 
 Tree fwells o'er tree, o'er tumour tumour heaves, 
 Of crowded hillocks like a boundlefs bed. 
 
 In your deep glooms I'll mufe on truth fublime, 
 Till virtue's flronger beat high throbs within : 
 And oft in Fancy's light- wheel'd chariot climb 
 To fpheres where woes nor errors e'er have been. 
 
 And oft the glowing moment, Nature, give, 
 When, every nerve in tune, each pulfe at play, 
 In love with life, in love with all that live, 
 The bounding heart fpurns each bafe care away ! 
 
 Then fairell forms, then lovelieft viflons rife ! 
 Omnific Fancy fpeaks ; lo, holy light 
 Breaks thro' the dark, and, rich in orient dies, 
 A new creation charms the mental fight ! 
 7
 
 44 ELEGY VII. 
 
 And oft, light glancing o'er innumerous themes, 
 With playful wing {hall wanton reafon ftray ; 
 While fenfe, awake amid my lightfome dreams, 
 Hails the mild verdure of my bowery way. 
 
 Thus wandering on in round return, as home, 
 Emerging from the circling woods, I go, 
 Sweet change ! to flill retreat and fylvan gloom, 
 Succeeds, (a fudden fcene,) the town below ! 
 
 Its cluttering roofs of dufky red I hail ; 
 Its column'd fmoke flow wreathing up the {ky ; 
 Grey tower and taper fpire ; while every gale 
 Wafts mingled founds of dear fociery. 
 
 Hail, murmuring hive, that holds my little cell ! 
 Children of men, with fond delight I hear 
 Your hum arife ! ah never let me dwell, 
 Where thofe lov'd founds may not falute mine ear.
 
 WRITTEN ON NEW YEAR*S DAY. 45 
 
 ELEGY VIII. 
 
 WRITTEN ON NEW YEAR'S DAY. 
 
 Eheu, fugaces, Pofthume, Pofthume, 
 
 Labuntur anni. HOR. 
 
 YE gladfome bells, how mifapplied your peal ' 
 A day, like this, requires a folemn chime: 
 Infatuate mortals ! why, with fportive heel, 
 Dance ye exulting o'er the grave of Time ? 
 
 Is he your foe, that thus ye ring his knell ? 
 That feftive notes announce his awful flight ? 
 Tire ye of day, that founds of triumph tell, 
 How fwift the wing that wafts your laft, long night ? 
 
 While circling years o'er thoughtlefs myriads roll, 
 Long folly but to lend, and length of fhame, 
 Ye metal tongues, fwing flow with mournful toll, 
 Virtue's departed feafons to proclaim .'
 
 46 ELEGY VIII. 
 
 Sons of Delay ! whofe duties, yet undone, 
 Await, from year to year, your hand in vain, 
 Drown, drown that brazen mufic with a groan ! 
 The years ye loft fhall ne'er be yours again !
 
 N THE LOSS OF FRIENDS. 47 
 
 ELEGY IX. 
 
 OCCASIONED BY THE LOSS OF SEVERAL VA- 
 LUED FRIENDS, WHOSE DEATHS SPEEDILY 
 FOLLOWED EACH OTHER.. 
 
 Tenues fugit, ceu fumus, in auras. VIRO. 
 
 YE fleeting forms, which Friendfhip's arms inclofe, 
 From their warm circle quick ye glide away ! 
 Scarce have we lov'd your image, ere we lofe : 
 It ftands, but while there's time to wifti its flay. 
 
 Lamented objects of my lorn efleem ! 
 
 Where are ye now, ye vanifh'd vifions, where ? 
 
 Loofe as the liquid texture of a dream, 
 
 Ye melted, from my mock'd embrace, to air ! 
 
 To the fond fight but one fhort inftant (hown, 
 To be perceiv'd, approv'd, and difappear ! 
 Strange apparitions ! whither are ye flown ? 
 For corp'ral, palpable, and warm ye were I
 
 48 ELEGY IX. 
 
 All ! fare they were not empty fhapes I knew, 
 Eut certain forms, that more than feetn'd to be ; 
 It was not air to which my bofom grew ; 
 They were not phantoms I was wont to fee. 
 
 I felt them fubftance ; felt them fervent glow ; 
 Saw fpeculation in their beaming eyes; 
 Heard from their lips life's mellow accent flow ; 
 And mark'd, like mine, their human paflions rife. 
 
 Yes, once they were : and are they nothing now ? 
 Has all they were, for ever ceas'd to be?' 
 No more do thofe fair minds with virtue glow, 
 That fhed their virtuous beams no more on me ? 
 
 Is living foul but one fleet moment lent ? 
 And tha't which beats and THINKS in human kind, 
 But duft, whofe wild and cafual ferment 
 Shoots into fits of life, and ftarts of mind ? 
 
 Are POWERS that feel, how fair is Nature's face ; 
 This beauteous frame of things that curious fcan ? 
 Its various parts infpe&, compare, and clafs ; 
 And trace, through all, unerring Wifdom's plan j
 
 ON THE LOSS OF FRIENDS. 49 
 
 POWERS, not alone that what appears perceive, 
 That things unfeen, by forceful inference, fee ; 
 Or, fkill'd from nothing airy worlds to weave, 
 With potent call, can bid what is not be ! 
 
 POWERS, at the magic of whofe roufing voice, 
 The part's relenting tomb what was reftores ! 
 The {hades awake of long departed joys, 
 And Time gives back again his buried hours i 
 
 Are THESE but works of blindly labouring clay? 
 Wrought up, by chance, to reafon's glorious light ? 
 That, kindling to a flafh of mental day, 
 With quick extinction, die again to night? 
 
 It is not fo : they cannot be extinct : 
 Such facred eflence ne'er can fhrink to nought : 
 Who boafts the power on moral themes to think, 
 O'er moral themes (hall roll immortal thought. 
 
 Yes, ye, that, kept by Memory's wondrous (kill, 
 So firm in her retentive tablet ftay, 
 As firmly fixt abide in being ftill; 
 Fram'd to endure, ye ne'er {hall pafs away. 
 E
 
 50 ELEGY ix. 
 
 'Tis not alone your lov'd ideas wear, 
 Warm in this heart, their colours undecay'd ; 
 Preferv'd by Heav'n with correfponding care, 
 Ye hold, yourfelves, abloom that (hall not fade. 
 
 To this fair hope my trading bofom clings : 
 Nought from its hold fhall wrench my faft belief; 
 For fweet the balm, the bleeding heart it brings, 
 When Friendfhip's tomb infpires the virtuous grief.
 
 MORTALITY AND HOPE. 51 
 
 ELEGY X. 
 
 MORTALITY AND HOPE*. 
 
 Immortalia ne fperes, raonet annus, et almum 
 
 Quae rapit hora diem. HOR. 
 
 YE fliort-liv'd flowers, though fwift ye pafs away^ 
 Compaffion weeps not o'er your withering ftate : 
 Ye fade, but all unconfcious of decay; 
 
 Ye fall, but fear not, as ye drop, your fate* - 
 
 - 
 
 Nor yet, ye wildly tuneful, plumy throng, 
 
 Plains my fad lay, o'er your mortality ! 
 
 Though Death's black hour fo foon muftend your 
 
 fong, 
 Carelefs ye fing, nor know that hour is nigh. 
 
 * The author is aware that twoelegies, of a firailarcornplexion, may- 
 have an ill effe<S ; but, as the following originated in different feelings 
 from thofe which gave birth to the laft, and contains a different train 
 of thought, he hopes the reader will forgive him for having added it. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 ELEGY JC. 
 
 J>Jor mourn lyou, ye flocks, though brief your life ; 
 What though to-morrow ye be doom'd to bleed ? 
 To-day your blifs is pure ; no fhadowy knife 
 Haunts your ferene contentment as ye feed. 
 
 Stretch'd on the grafs ye view your brother lie, 
 Bereav'd of motion and devoid of breath ; 
 Heedlefs ye pafs the proflrate carcafe by, 
 Or ftupid gaze, nor underftand the death. 
 
 'Tis man alone demands the Mufe's figh ; 
 O'er man her pity ftieds its tendered fhower : 
 Of all the countlefs tribes that round him die, 
 The only prophet of his final hour ! 
 
 In each fhrunk leaf he fees the flower difplay, 
 Each falling fun that finks to ocean's bed, 
 He notes how fwift his bloom fhall fade away ! 
 He marks how low his glory fhall be laid ! 
 
 In Art's or Nature's fading kingdom fhown, 
 Each fad decline that meets his penfive eye, 
 (Expreffive hint and picture of his own !) 
 - Draws, as he views it, from his breaft a figh !
 
 MORTALITY AND HOPE. 53 
 
 To him who, thus, to life's approaching clofe, 
 Is doom'd his mournful profpeft to extend, 
 Ah, fure, injuftice, equal Nature owes 
 A life where Forefight {hall defcry no end ! 
 
 Can this moit fpan of being be his all ? 
 
 Muft minds, whofe wiihes fhoot beyond the tomb, 
 
 Da(h their bruis'd frames againtt Confinement's 
 
 wall, 
 And droop, the prifoners of fo fcant a room ? 
 
 Say, muft I toil, year following year, to flay, 
 In all their coarfer or their fubtler forms, 
 The various follies on my peace that prey, 
 Only at length to fall the prey of worms ? 
 
 When love of knowledge moft intenfe (hall glow, 
 When moft I value reafon's precious light, 
 Then, muft I ceafe, for ever ceafe, to know ? 
 Then, reafon's lamp go out in endlefs night ? 
 
 Heav Vs beauteous works, with clearer view fur- 
 
 vey'd, 
 
 When with devouter awe mine eyes adore, 
 Shall their fair obje6t from before them fade, 
 And I admire thofe beauteous works no more ?
 
 4 ELEGY X. 
 
 Or was Iform'd, a vain defire to feel 
 Of lovely truths their radiant face that hide ? 
 Truths that to me their charms muft ne'er unveil ? 
 For ever to my longing eyes denied ? 
 
 While the brute tribes, with happier dulnefs bleft, 
 No painful fenfe of ftraiten'd knowledge {how ; 
 In eafy ign'rance all incurious reft, 
 Content, their fellows and their food to know ; 
 
 Was I inform'd with this more ftirring mind, 
 To mourn a night no dawn fhall e'er remove ? 
 Seeking a day I ne'er am doom'd to find, 
 With anxious, fruitlefs fteps ordain'd to rove ? 
 
 To paint th' alluring form of focial weal, 
 Where minds, in order moving, all agree, 
 And, in fweet chime, the filver fpheres excel ; 
 Yet ne'er, in aft, the lovely picture fee ? 
 
 To fpend my foul in life-confuming fighs, 
 That men on men with favage rage /hould prey; 
 Nor hope to fee a fairer fcene arife, 
 Whofe fmiling image fhall my pains repay ? 
 7
 
 MORTALITY AND HOPE. 55 
 
 The nobleft want which Nature knows to raife, 
 Say, mall me leave alone without its food? 
 Leave, while each lower third her care allays, 
 Unflak'd the lofty wim for boundlefs good ? 
 
 While for each humbler power, her hands have 
 
 made, 
 
 Thofe hands a field of ample fcope prepare, 
 For oary fins while watery paths are fpread, 
 For winnowing wings, the liquid plains of air ; 
 
 Shall fouls, equipp'd with wondrous powers to fly 
 Through the vafttra&s of Truth'sand Virtue's reign, 
 Be ne'er allow'd to fail that glorious fky, 
 Cag'd in this narrow life, and wing'd in vain ? 
 
 Ceafe, ceafe, my fong, to mourn the lot of man ! 
 Revoke the murmur, and recal the tear ! 
 It cannot be, that Nature's faultlefs pla 
 To him alone denies a fuited fphere. 
 
 . The eagle pinions of this a&ive mind, 
 Though now a little fpace enclofe their flights, 
 At length the firmament, they afk, mall find ; 
 And foar, without control, celeftial heights. 
 E 4
 
 SONNETS.
 
 ONNET?4 
 
 SONNET I. 
 
 No paufe of joy thy lover, Nature, knows; 
 Thy varying fcenes but change his pure delight : 
 To his pleas'd ear fucceffive mufic flows ; 
 Succeflive beauty fmiles to blefs his fight. 
 Now the mute lark's triumphant fong is o'er, 
 Whofe airy notes exulting climh the fkies ; 
 Now the grove's fleeping chorifters no more, 
 Pour forth their gladfome focial melodies ; 
 'Tis fweet to hear, oh, lonely bird of woe ! 
 Melodious follower of the fong of day ! 
 Thy clear mellifluous lamentation flow ; 
 The long-drawn forrow of thy filver Jay ! 
 Now the lorn eye hath loft the folar beam, 
 All hail, thou paler lamp ! 'tis fweet to mark 
 Thy fhatter'd radiance quivering in the ftream ; 
 And thy meek, tender light o'erflow the dark ! 
 Ah ! ne'er, for coftly pleafures will I pine, 
 While Nature's unbought blifs and ehafie delight 
 are mine.
 
 6O SONNETS. 
 
 SONNET II 
 
 W^HEN raging Summer, from his blazing tnronc, 
 Darts his fierce rays o'er all the breezelefs ikies, 
 How foft a night, the grove, to which he flies, 
 Flings o'er the languid fugitive from noon ! 
 There, fcreen'd from Heaven's oppreffive fervour, 
 
 foon 
 
 His fenfe revives, as ftretch'd at eafe he lies : 
 Reliev'd from glare, to his recovering eyes 
 The fylvan fcene, by graver light, is ihown : 
 Such, pleafmg Melancholy, thy bland power ! 
 Shade of the heart ! the panting foul's retreat 
 From fcorching joys ! bleft is thy fombrous hour, 
 To Rapture's burning mood fucceeding fweet ! 
 Oh ! oft may life's umbrageous fcenes embower, 
 And {hut my penilve bread from tranfports furious 
 
 heat.
 
 SONNETS. %r 
 
 SONNET III. 
 
 TO THE SETTING SUN. 
 
 AND wilt thou go, bright regent of the day ? 
 
 Farewel, awhile ! we part to meet again. 
 
 Ere long (hall I review thy golden ray ; 
 
 Ere long (halt thou refume thy glorious reign. 
 
 The fea that now abforbs thy falling light, 
 
 Compel'd fhall foon its rofy prey reftore ; 
 
 Bereav'd, but not for ever, is my fight; 
 
 Without defpair, thefe eyes thy lofs deplore. 
 
 Oh Virtue ! when thine orb droops towards its bed, 
 
 Withfuch calm faith fad Friendfhip breathes adieu : 
 
 Thou (halt emerge, fair ftar, from death's blade 
 
 fhade, 
 
 The fplendid courfe of glory to renew. 
 Soon (hall the grave releafe thee from its gloom ; 
 Hope fweetly wipes the eye that wets thy tomb.
 
 62 SONNETS. 
 
 SONNET IV. 
 
 TO THE VEGETABLE WORLD. 
 
 COOL animation, hail ! efcap'd a while 
 From the hot fcene where burns man's fever'd life ; 
 Whofe purple tides fo oft impetuous boil, 
 Inflam'd with riot foul, and furious ftrife : 
 Refrefh'd I view your life that calmly glows, 
 And its firft innocence till death retains ; 
 Whofe purer blood for ever temperate flows 
 Through the chafte conduits of your finer veins. 
 Come here and cool, fierce Hate, and, Difcord, 
 
 come ; 
 
 And learn of thefe fo mild a life that lead: 
 And red Intemperance let 'em teach to bloom, 
 With their clear health on heav'n's frefh dews that 
 
 feed. 
 
 Ne'er may my peaceful bofom, Nature, beat, 
 But with thy fober fires, and virtue's gentle heat.
 
 SONNETS. 63, 
 
 ' SONNET-V. 
 
 EVENING. , 
 
 DAY'S finking fount now pours a milder flood 
 And burnifhes with deeper gold the green : 
 A lucid autumn paints the fummer wood ; 
 And the pleas'd eye fmiles on the faffron fcene. 
 The long-grown (hades announce advancing night ; 
 With fainted breath the languid zephyr blows ; 
 Th' unruffled trees fleep in the yellow light ; 
 And all furrounding things inftil repofe. 
 Calm Evening's tranquil pupil, let me flray; 
 From hetic care, from fultry anger free ;- 
 All cool my bofom as abated day ; 
 Nor clouded, Confcience, by a frown from thee ? 
 At this ftill hour, oft let roe rove ferene, 
 And catch the temper of the placid fcene.
 
 MISCELLANIES.
 
 CHANGE. '7 
 
 CHANGE. 
 
 Non Temper idem floribus eft honos 
 Vernis, neque uno luna rubens nitet 
 Vultu. HOR. 
 
 THE fky's inconftant veftures, we behold^ 
 In ever Hutting figures loofely roll'd: 
 Each fhape they take, amuflve to the fight, 
 Soon as afium'd, th' unfteady wearers quit : 
 Each beauteous tint, all-colouring light fupplies, 
 A moment's fpace enchants the eye, and dies : 
 iSJor hue to ftand, nor form is feen to flay, 
 The unfix'd pictures fade and float away. 
 In its rude outline, to wild Fancy's gaze, 
 Yon cloud a ridge of yellow rocks difplays ; 
 Hardly (he views the craggy vapour o'er, 
 Ere the lax, fluid landfcape is no more. 
 Fluihing the weft, admire that fplendid red; 
 Scarce can we call it fair, before 'tis fled ! 
 The rofy pomp is turn'd to fober grey ; 
 We look'd a moment off, and find it pafs'd away 3 
 F 2
 
 68 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 * As earth's clear wave repeats th' o'erhanging fkies, 
 Copies the cloud, and to the blue replies ; 
 Heaven's changeful face, a faithful moral glafs, 
 Of human life reflects the changeful face. 
 
 Canft thou, whofe penfive eyes attentive fcan, 
 Thro' every varied view, this fcene of man, 
 Find, in one walk of contemplation's range, 
 A true or feeming good, exempt from change ? 
 Say, if, in all this crowd of things, appears 
 Aught that the lovely ftarnp of Beauty wears, 
 InReafon's juft, or Fancy's dazzled, fight, 
 Whofe flable figure is fecure from flight? 
 Whofe image, fixt as fair, is made t' abide, 
 True to our peace, or faithful to our pride ? 
 Nought, nought is found, where'er ourfearchcan 
 
 But fleet, and bafelefs forms that glide away ; 
 One ftream of vifions that, in endlefs flow, 
 Appear and vanifli, and but come to go I 
 
 See ! reftlefs wealth will fcarce an inftant ftand ! 
 How (hoots the paflenger from hand to hand '
 
 CHANGE. 6() 
 
 Ah ! who would fix his heart-exhaufting cares 
 On aught that wings, fo felciom folded, wears ? 
 One tenant oft, fo fportive {tars ordain 'd, 
 The palace and the prifon have contain'd : 
 Who propp'd dependents, now themfelves depend : 
 Who ftately rul'd, with meek obedience bend : 
 How oft, by brighter days infpir'd, hath pride 
 The poor man's blufli in livelier crimfon dy'd ! 
 The wit that once but us'd its idle pow'rs, 
 Wants to invent for wealth's unbounded ftores, 
 Hath ftrain'd with anxious efforts to contrive, 
 On a perplexing little how to live. 
 
 Of him that foars to power, how vain the flight ! 
 High though he mount, he fhall not keep his 
 
 height : 
 
 Soon {hall he ceafe his lofty feat to boaft , 
 And own untenable the flippery poft : 
 For, fure as evening {hades to morn fucceed. 
 And funs afcend to fink in ocean's bed; 
 All eyes forefee, that life's paft fcenes recal, 
 So fure Ambition rifes but to fall. 
 Nor only {hall the human rtars decline 
 Low as the level of their orient line ;
 
 7P MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Heav'n's alter'd hand the falling glories throws,. 
 As far beneath it, as above they rofe ! 
 Hurl'd from the topmoft height of all the fky, 
 Plung'd in Affliction's deepeft gulph they lie ! 
 
 Unfold hiftoric fheets This page difplays, 
 
 The conful's * glories, and the victor's blaze ! 
 See, in his car, aloft, the hero move ! 
 God of to-day ! the city's guardian Jove ! 
 To feed his pride, admiring millions meet, 
 Who fee but him in all the crowded ftreet ! 
 The walls all o'er are fet with wond'ring eyes, 
 Lin'd with aw'd looks, and cover'd with furprife ! 
 On houfes' tops the climbing fwarms await, 
 And hail at diftance, the flow-moving date ; 
 Each fight to gaze, each throat is ftretch'dtogrect, 
 And Tiber's banks the fhouted name repeat ; 
 In rifmg ftatues beams the favourite face, 
 And bufy moulds commit his praife to brafs : 
 Turn o'er the leaf : in the next page, he lies, 
 Slain bybafe hands, and under foreign (kies ! 
 Forlorn he lies, a god, a god no more, 
 Unhous'd and headlefs, on the hoftile more ! 
 
 * Pompey.
 
 CHANGE. ^I 
 
 Of all the legions, once he led, bereft, 
 One folitary follower only left ; 
 O'er his lov'd general's duft to breathe a figh, 
 And humbleft burial's niggard rite fupply. 
 This fall too low, (detrufion too fevere !) 
 From him that thruft him down compels a teat ' 
 Mix'd with the generous flood his eyes effufe, 
 Say, flow prophetic fellow-feeling's dews ? 
 The drops he fheds, himfelf fhall Ihortly need ; 
 Ere long, who mourns his rival's blood, (hall bleed. 
 Exalted meteor ! foon thy fires fhall die ; 
 Thy turn to be extindt, thine hour of night is nigh. 
 
 To Wolfey's giant greatnefs raife thine eyes ! 
 Monfter of glory ! fwol'n with dignities ! 
 Born to afcend, his buoyant Deftiny, 
 Spite of his birth's deprefllon, bears him high ; 
 High, as his own afpiring wifli can foar, 
 See the vaft fabric of his honours tower ! 
 Advanc'd to boundlefs, uncontroll'd command, 
 Power's various reins all crowded in his hand ; 
 Lord of the church, and ruler of the ftate, 
 His fmile promotion, and his anger fate ; 
 F4
 
 72 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Beneath his roof, while titled flaves obey, 
 His king the fubjedl of his private fway ; 
 Patron of letters, honour'd by the wife, 
 In pomp of drefs ador'd by vulgar eyes ; 
 Theo'ergrown grandeur lifts aloft its head, 
 And wide abroad th' ambitious branches fpread ! 
 But lo ! the lifted axe ! the monarch's look ! 
 That threats his honours with a fatal flroke ! 
 The look, that quells the haughty ftatefman's pride, 
 And frowns his loofe adherents from his fide : 
 The troops explain the glance, and inftant flee; 
 The axe defcends, and loudly falls the tree : 
 As loud her wings exulting Envy lhakes, 
 While the refounding ruin lulls her fnakes.. 
 Who view'd the grofs, luxuriant greatnefs rife, 
 To take it in, who flretch'd his labouring eyes, 
 Vainly to find it, rolls them all around, 
 Th' enormous pomp can now no more be found ! 
 No more, by him that faw it, to be feen, . 
 Nor left a fmgle leaf to prove it e'er had been. 
 
 Nor adventitious fplendours fet alone, 
 Infrinfic glory's fairer beams go down.
 
 CHANGE. 73 
 
 Lp ! where the glooms of both declenfions meet ! 
 Of double night behold yon mournful feat ! 
 Can it be {he ? * that miferable {hade, 
 Whom years have wafted, and whom want hath 
 
 clad ? 
 
 Her former image all effac'd, ah ! how 
 Shall they, erewhile that knew her, know her now? 
 Which moft /hall melt foft Pity's gentle race, 
 Thofe ruin'd fortunes, or that faded face ? 
 Once was that face among the themes of Fame ; 
 And rais'd, in noble breafts, a fervent flame : 
 
 * Jane Shore. Left the imagination of the reader Ihould be 
 carried, by any feature of the following piclure, to that exhibited in 
 the tragedy of this name, where poetical licence, in violation of hif- 
 torical truth, reprefents the death of the vidYim as immediately con- 
 fequent on the fufiferings inflicted upon her by the Protector, he is 
 defired to confider the whole of this pafTage, as the commencement 
 of it intimates, to relate to that obfcure and indigent old age of this 
 unfortunate lady to which her life was in reality prolonged, and ia 
 which (he was reduced to the mortification of unfuccefsful application 
 for relief to thofe ungrateful courtiers, for whofe benefit, in the days 
 of her profpcrity, when neither the charms of herperfon, the bril- 
 liancy of her wit, nor the fplendour of her ftate, furpaffed the benevo- 
 lence of her heart, fhe had gencroufly uL-d her influence over the 
 king. " At this day (fays Sir Thomas More, in his pathetic 
 account of her decayed and unfriended condition in the decline of her 
 j,f e ) She beggeth of many at this day living, that at this day had 
 begged, if (he had not been." See More's Hift. of Rich. III.
 
 74 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 That wan, funk cheek, which now no heart can 
 
 move, 
 
 Full oft hath met the lips of royal love: 
 There faireft lines the hand of Nature drew ; 
 There, Beauty, all thy lovelicft rofes blew ! 
 Then o'er that form, which Wretchednefs arrays,' 
 Flow'd the rich veft, and jewels pour'd their blaze; 
 She that fo filent crawls on tottering feet, 
 Rufli'd in the car, and rattled thro' the ftreet : 
 Yon door (he quits, hark ! with how loud a figh ! 
 There have her wants in vain implor'd fupply ; 
 Juft indignation joins her deep defpair ! 
 For hafe Ingratitude inhabits there. 
 Once, in no ear, beneath a throne, to fue, 
 Nor but for others, nor in vain, (he knew ; 
 Of royal grace wherever ilream'd the ray, 
 'Twas (he that mow 'd th' obedient beam its way, 
 Thro' that forlorn, neglected, whher-'d thing, 
 Flow'd all the favours of a love-fway'd king ! 
 Now, for herfelf, her pray'rs, with chang'dfuccefs, 
 E'en them, for whom her pray'rs prevail'd.addrefs ! 
 And are thofe pallid lips, that long have fent 
 No breath but fighs, no voice but fad complaint, 
 The breathing rubies that wild laughter lov'd, 
 Nor but to utter mirth or mufic mov'd ?
 
 CHANGE. 75 
 
 Is that dejeled bending figure fhe, 
 The nymph renovvn'd for high vivacity ! 
 That, with die fportive breath of livelieft wit, 
 Fann'd the ftrong fires her fparkling eyes had lit ! 
 With winning prattle, from dull ftate releas'd, 
 An amorous monarch's hour of pleafure bleft ! 
 And, mightier far than all the fcarlet band, 
 That force the crowd aloof from kings to ftand, 
 Kept off (on fovereigns what has clofer preft) 
 The throng of cares * from doating Edward'sbreaft ! 
 
 Nor only Beauty's purple luflre flies, 
 And fprightly life to joylefs languor dies ; 
 He, who that face of fpeechlefs anguifh wears, 
 Pours o'er a yet more ftriking change his tears ! 
 That cold pale lumpof clay, which charms his view, 
 He call'd his friend ; and well the name it knew ; 
 In thoufand channels health all o'er it flow'd; 
 Strong pulfes play'd, and dancing fpirits glovv'd ; 
 
 * Non cnim gazs, nequc ccnfulans 
 Summovet lidlor mifcros tumultus 
 Mentis, ct curas, laqueata circum 
 
 Tefta vylantcs. HOR,
 
 76 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Thro' various avenues, divinely made, 
 The world without, within it was convey'd : 
 Obftru&ion ftrange ! no longer to the mind 
 Their curious path furrounding things can find ! 
 To ears a whifper ftruck, and eyes, a fpark, 
 E'en thunder's filence, and e'en noon is dark ! 
 But late fo much who knew, now nothing knows 
 Who glow'd fo warm, is cold as winter's fnows ! 
 Thofc eyes, the fpeaking foul's late beamy feat, 
 No more acknowledge him they lov'd to meet ; 
 Nor e'en one whifper thofe clos'd lips impart, 
 Whofe gentle tones fo often footh'd his heart ! 
 < c Speak to thy friend" the raving mourner cries; 
 With his fond call no more the frame complies : 
 Not all his warmth the palfied friendfhip wakes ; 
 An unreturning hand his preffures takes ; 
 In vain his wild and frenzied efforts prove, 
 The cold indifference of that breaft to move ; 
 That face, whofe eloquence of looks confefs'd, 
 How much his prefence once its owner blefs'd, 
 Now not the fainteft fmile is feen to wear, 
 As his forgotten form advances near ; 
 Alike compos'd the tranquil lines remain, 
 If anguifli force him thence, or lure him near again !
 
 CHANGE. 77 
 
 Gazing the alter'd thing, in deep furprife, 
 
 (So frefli the living friend in Memory's eyes ! 
 
 The fate familiar in the common lot, 
 
 In this wild, fenfe-o'erwhelming grief forgot,) 
 
 The flruck furvivor meditates the change, 
 
 And, pond'ring, deems the pale extinction ftrange ! 
 
 Amaz'd, who, felt fo much, fhould nothing feel, 
 
 An heart, that leap'd fo high, fhould lie fo ftill, 
 
 His eye long fix'd on the quench'd life he keeps, 
 
 Thoughtful he mourns, and wonders as he weeps ! 
 
 Death, from whofe lance nor Worth, nor Youth 
 
 is free, 
 
 In Friendfliip's world, what changes flo\v from thee ! 
 Long abfent from the fhore that gave him birth, 
 How bleft the traveller treads his parent earth ! 
 Ah ! how his heart (as, thro' the well-known land, 
 Gazing the long-lov'd fields on either hand, 
 To his dear native town hefwift returns) 
 T' embrace his old aflbciates fondly burns ! 
 You houie he hails ! its figure unforgot ! 
 Dear was the threfhold to his frequent foot : 
 There has he pafs'd full many a focial day, 
 And met the looks that fmil'd his cares away ;
 
 ^8 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Oft has its hearth beam'd on his wintry 
 And fummer drefs'd for him its garden's bovver. 
 There two ingenuoushearts, which Love hadpair'd, 
 Along with Love, his faithful friendship (har'd : 
 Eager he pants t' excite a fweet furprife, 
 And fudden ftand before their gliftcning eyes ! 
 To tell them where his roving fteps have been, 
 And all a wanderer's curious eyes have feen ! 
 Vain hope ! another houfe is now their home, 
 And his fad vifit feeks their neighbouring tomb ! 
 The names, fo often utter'd, there he reads, 
 And with their imag'd fhapes his fancy feeds ! 
 Bent on their grave his eyes, and clafp'd his hands, 
 Fixt as their (tone, th' afflidled itatue ftands ; 
 And long their living monument appears, 
 In whofe flill marble nothing ftirs but tears ! 
 Now to yon vacant walls his feet repair, 
 Awhile to nurfe his mournful feelings there ! 
 Thither he goes, by penfive Memory mov'd, 
 For long they held the forms that long he lov'd: 
 Untenanted the empty fcene remains, 
 And fooths the void that in his bofom reigns : 
 How filent now and cold that genial hearth, 
 That warm'd to wife difcourfe or harmlefs mirth !
 
 Where oft he blifsful fat, and, grave or. gay, 
 Full fweetly wore the winter's eve away ! 
 Ah ! where is now that hofpitable blaze, 
 Whofe houfehold funihine wont to gild his face ; 
 Which through the darkening room, as day with- 
 drew, 
 
 (Sight-foothing light !) the red effulgence threw; 
 And long allur'd his limning eye to trace 
 Amufive pictures in its various face? 
 Now, not one ray from thence his eyes receive, 
 Though fail: around him fall the {hades of eve; 
 And from that window autumn's glooms appear, 
 Through which he us'd to watch the dying year ; 
 And, while the fewel'sfplendours round him play 'd, 
 Remark the fun-deferted foliage fade ! 
 Now to the garden-fcene forlorn he moves, 
 And through the fylvan ruin, mournful, roves ; 
 Tall weeds, in wild luxuriance rifmg round, 
 Enfigns of Solitude, poffefs the ground ; 
 Choaking each walk his friends no longer tread, 
 The high, coarfe grafs reminds him they are fled ; 
 Whofe profperous, unmolefted blades declare, 
 Tis long fmce focial fteps were printed there. 
 4 '
 
 80 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Befides the mortal dart that Sicknefs throws^ 
 friend/hip has death to fear from other foes. 
 Not life alone decays, and breath departs, ' 
 Oft love declines to hate in alter'd hearts. 
 The power of Change, to body not confin'd, 
 Spreads her unbounded empire over mind. 
 Remark thofe two that pafs each other by* 
 With fallen coldnefs and averted eye ; 
 Once they were one, nor ever feen apart ; 
 Their feveral frames enclos'd a fmgle heart : 
 In one warm tide their mix'd affections flow'd ; 
 " Burn'd with one love^ with one refentmcnt 
 
 glow'd*:" 
 
 Who anger'd one, incur'd the other's frown ; 
 And he by both was bleft, who fmil'd on one : 
 Now, where is now, that partnerflup of foul ? 
 In dreams but too diftincT: their paflions roll 1 
 Each common foe to peace had vainly tried 
 To ftrike between them, and the bond divide ; 
 At length the occafion came, whofe ftroke, too true, 
 Lit on the joint where they together grew ; 
 
 * Pope.
 
 CHANGE. 8l 
 
 The hinge, that kept their minds injunction, hit, 
 The aflbciates fever'd, and the fouls unkuit : 
 Mortal to friendship fell th' unerring blow, 
 And bad the beauteous unity be two. 
 
 But Mind difplays, to wake the moral figh, 
 More mournful change than friendfhip'salter'd eye: 
 Thy night, Declenfion, wears a gloomier fhade, 
 In virtue fall'n, and character decay'd. 
 Lo, yonder youth, to wealth and honours born, 
 Gen'rous and juft, in life's ingenuous morn ! 
 Fair Truth he ftudious woos in learned groves, 
 And every Mufe his claffic bofom loves: 
 With kindling foul hiftoric leaves he reads, 
 And catches virtuous fire from virtuous deeds : 
 Bright, in his eye, the flame of friendship glows; 
 Sweet, from his lip, its artlefs accent flows : 
 Candour, whofe beams diffufe celeftial grace, 
 Pours all her funfhine in his open face : 
 Oh, fleeti ngcleannefs ! pure from fpot in vain i 
 O'er the white page, fee, deals the fatal ftain ! 
 A court receives him to its tainted air, 
 And that clear fpirit ceafes to be fair : 
 Ambition's mean cabals pollute his foul, 
 And fouleft thoughts within him darkly roll . 
 G
 
 82 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Dead to all noble thirft, all honed fires, 
 He burns alone with low and mafk'd defires : 
 No more his heart its form, unfhrinking, {hows ; 
 Around him myftery all its darknefs throws : 
 His hoftile ends he clothes in words of oil, 
 And coward frowns lurk underneath his fmile : 
 Thatunlock'dbreaft, which lov'd the cheerful Ijght, 
 Whichknewnobafenefs, and which fought nonight, 
 Of gloomy fecrets grows a folemn tomb, 
 The feat of fhadows, and of crimes the womb ! 
 
 Thou female ranger of the midnight ftreet ! 
 Each fhggering (lave of wine reduc'd to greet ! 
 Daughter of Art ! whofe fraud-devoted days 
 In one wide fyftern of deception pafs ; 
 Smooth from whofe lips, profeffions guileful flow ; 
 Whofe cheeks with infincere vermilion glow ; 
 Whofe artful eyes, on all that pafs thee by, 
 Fling labour'd glances, and but look, to lie j 
 Though man difguft, thought fting, and pain dc- 
 
 ftroy, 
 
 For ever feigning health, and love, and joy ; 
 Where is that fweetnefs, fay, thou loft one ! where, 
 To each exulting parent late fo dear ?
 
 CHANGE. 83 
 
 Their pray'r how ardent, arid how fond their hope, 
 Their heart's juft pride might form their age's prop ! 
 Thine artlefs looks could virtuous eyes allure, 
 And as thy form was fair, thine heart was pure ! 
 An honeft bloom then deck'd that alter'd face ; . 
 And all thy mien difplay'd a modeft grace. 
 
 See him who enters now that fplendid room ! 
 See, on his brow, that night of fullen gloom ! 
 Nor noting wife nor children circling there, 
 Silent he flings him in the cuftom'd chair: 
 Of late, this cloud myfterious oft they mark, 
 And erring gueffes wander in the dark : 
 Deep in himfelf the difcontent is hid ; 
 Each queftion, Love would a(k, his looks forbid ; 
 Vent'rous Enquiry, quail'd by harfh replies, 
 Forfakes the tongue, retreating to the eyes : 
 No child draws near the father's dreaded knee, 
 Chas'd by his frown, the trembling cherubs flee : 
 
 Long mute he fits ; then fudden quits his feat 
 
 And traverfes the room with hafty feet ; 
 His troubled geflures, fteps irregular, 
 And reftlefs lips, proclaim the inward war; 
 G 2
 
 84 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Then to the door abrupt the mutterer darts, 
 And from the houfe with frightful hurry parts : 
 Lo ! the fhock'd family, with dumb furprife, 
 Roll each on other their wild, wond'ring eyes ! 
 How juft their wonder ! for how chang'd is he, 
 This moment feen, from him they us'd to fee ! 
 Endear'd by abfence, when he fought his home, 
 Hishearth's lov'd groupe beheld him fmilingcome ; 
 Warm was he wont his little ones to blefs, 
 Nor went one cheek without the kind carefs ; 
 His life a flame of focial love difplay'd, 
 Which left no debt to human kind unpaid j 
 Each heart that bleeding in his path he found, 
 If bleft with power to bind it, pleas'd he bound ; 
 Gay peace, where glooms a lowering fadnefs now, 
 Shone in that face, and fmooth'd that wrinkled brow; 
 If care opprefs'd him, it was open care, 
 That gave trie (harers of his heart their {hare : 
 Now fome diflioneft woe his peace hath broke, 
 And guilt is in the ihade that clouds his look. 
 Swift the dark truth is prefling into day- 
 Home wilder comes, who fhot fo wild away ! 
 Burfts the pent ftorm ! the door rude open flies ! 
 The aftonifh'd circle flart in pale furprife ! 
 7
 
 CHANGE. 85 
 
 Clench 'd are his fifts ; his hairs diforder'd flow ; 
 And fierce he ftamps the floor, and ftrikes his brow : 
 In his grim look, as round the room he glares, 
 Perdition fcowls, and all the wretch appears ! 
 "Beggars ! your bread is gone Ifhookyourlaft 
 Leap'd from the box Defpair, and hope is paft 
 'Tis your deflroyer (lands before your eyes 
 Children ! your father is a fiend !" he cries : 
 The ruffled form then fudden difappears, 
 And foon his dreadful end affails their ears : 
 The houfe a ftrange inteftine thunder (hakes, 
 Shocks all its walls, and all its echoes wakes ! 
 Call'd by the found, the pale fpe&ators view, 
 Where, roll'd in clouds of fmoke, the ruin'dfpirit 
 flew! 
 
 What fable crowds, on eaflern India's fliore, 
 With looks of want furround Mercator's door ! 
 Whofe grafping wealth, amaffing all their rice, 
 Mocks their fhort reach, in its licentious price : 
 Eager they afk, but afk, alas ! in vain, 
 A little portion of the hoarded grain : 
 Vain the loud rhetoric of air- rending cries, 
 And vain the fpeechlefs prayer of clofmgeyes; 
 G 3
 
 S6 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 That, all unaided byperfuafive breath, 
 Plead with the Client eloquence of death ! 
 Her unavailing babe the mother brings, 
 And low on earth her fuppliant figure flings ; 
 Bent on her pining child her deep-funk eyes, 
 Where love and hunger blend their agonies, 
 
 In vain her bofom breathes the final groan 
 
 Unmov'd by all remains the man of ftone ! 
 While his wide walls the gather'd year inclofe, 
 While in his cup the laughing Bacchus glows, 
 He recks it not, that round his gate are fpread, 
 Famine's fad groupe, the dying and the dead ; 
 As though the earth had fail'd its fruits to yield, 
 And angry fkies refus'd to blefs the field ! 
 Ah ! what an envious cloud hath Avarice thrown 
 O'er Virtue's fun that late fo clearly {hone ! 
 That ting'd e'en the firfl break of moral day 
 With Vhe fine blufhes of its orient ray ! 
 Now could he know, fhould now the beggar view, 
 The man whofe boyifh tears his flory drew ? 
 Whcfe eyes, with meek, refpe&ful pity rais'd, 
 His woe-lin'd face, with longperufal gaz'd? 
 Whofe gentle hand his bending figure led, 
 To feel his father's fire, and fliare his bread ?
 
 . CHANGE. 87 
 
 Say, which of all his fchool-mates, that fhould fee, 
 Would think the author of thefe wrongs were he, 
 Who with an early love of juftice glow'd, 
 And, in his at, the dawning hero fliow'd ? 
 Each weaker ftripling's generous fhield from harm, 
 When young oppreflbrs rais'd their infant arm ! 
 Whofe kindling fpirit all intrepid rofe, 
 The beardlefs tyrant ftrenuous to oppofe ! 
 And the high fvvell of whofe indignant foul, 
 Awe of the matter's power could fcarce control, 
 Whene'er he heard his penal lafhes fall, 
 Harfhly refounding through the letter'd hall ; 
 And faw his lucklefs fellow's fpirit broke 
 By brute chaftifement's ignominious ftroke 1 
 Or could the eyes, his riper youth that knew, 
 When, with ye* opener leaf, his virtues blew, 
 In that now blighted, faded fpirit, find 
 One lingering hue of all his former mind ? 
 Trace aught of him who echoed Mifery's moan, 
 And others' wrongs refented as his own ? 
 Who, when to Heav'n he heard the injur'd call, 
 Long'd to behold the bolt of vengeance fall? 
 Who curs'd each ruthlefs creditor, he faw, 
 Crufh the poor debtor with the arm of Law ;
 
 88 MISCELLANIES.. 
 
 Or, while a load of grief his widow bears, 
 Of every comfort ftrip her, but her tears ? 
 
 What is there, man can hold, he may not lofe ? 
 See ! e'en his faithlefs Reafon from him goes * 
 The facred guide, that fhows the path of right, 
 Spreads forth her wings, and fpeeds her parting 
 
 flight ! 
 
 Luxuriant round the learn'd and tuneful head *, 
 Their beauteous leaves the claffic laurels fpread : 
 The liftening ear his pleafing lips engage, 
 Each eye delighted reads his lucid page : 
 Infifting on the found, the mouth of Fame 
 Makes the wide world familiar with the name : 
 By rank of mind high rais'd above the great, 
 His counfels rule the rulers of the ftate ; 
 Their unfeen prompter, in their fecret hour, 
 Without a port, he finds his wifdom power ; 
 And, like an angel ftation'd at the helm, 
 Sublimely viewlefs, fleers a factious realm ! 
 The boundlefs homage letter'd Beauty joins, 
 And greeneft myrtle with his laurel twines ; 
 While Fame loud founds it, gently fighs his praife, 
 Or fweetly fings her love in polifh'd lays ; 
 
 * Dean Swift,
 
 CHANGE. 89 
 
 Drcfl in tTie rofes of her earlieft morn, 
 
 Smiles on his years which wifdom's charms adorn, 
 
 And in thofe charms fuch forceful influence owns, 
 
 Her rofes iade before her fage's frowns ; 
 
 While the pure flames, from Wifdom's felf flic 
 
 drew, 
 
 In vain {he calls on Wifdom to fubdue. 
 Dire change ! o'er all that ample orb of wit, 
 That fun of glory's dazzling round of light, 
 (No edge left luminous) eclipfe hath fpread 
 An everlafting veil of blacken: {hade ! 
 Behold the bard, the fcholar, and the fage, 
 A ftock in torpor, or a beaft in rage ! 
 Who (hone by turns in Truth's and Fancy's fchoolj 
 A fury burns, or dies into a fool ! 
 That mind which once a nation's weal could tend, 
 Now cannot e'en his own from -ill defend : 
 His witlefs life appointed keepers guard, 
 Their country's guardian dwindled to their ward ! 
 Is that the deep difcerner, whofe fwift thought, 
 El ufive Truth, with quickeft feizure, caught, 
 Whofe idiot eyes without diftin6lion, roll, 
 Unfearching fix, nor dart one ray of foul ? 
 On him, the learn'd beheld with lifted eyes, 
 Each dull domeft-ic now looks down and iighs !
 
 go MISCELLANIES. 
 
 While they, that felt his piercing edge before, 
 Forgive the blunted foe they fear no more : 
 Clofe all their wounds, and all their anger dies; 
 Who frownM and fmarted, melt and moralize ! 
 
 But not to individual man's declines, 
 Of various {hade, the mufe her figh confines ; 
 Death ! (he bewails, with yet a louder groan, 
 Thy lance at bulkier excellency thrown. 
 Nations have loft their beauty, late that bloom'd , 
 And huge communities as moths confum'd ! 
 The drooping monuments of what they were 
 Slow pine away, and gradual difappear. 
 Where rich abundance blefs'd the fmiling ground, 
 And gkdfome hills and vales rejoic'd around, 
 Brown deferts ftretch their dreary traces of fand, 
 And all the laugh of plenty flies the land. 
 Nor flone's more hardy grace hath power to ftay : 
 Time fweeps the folid elegance away. 
 Yon groupe of vaft, majelVic ruins fhow, 
 What mighty things his mightier fey the can mow ! 
 Where meeting roofs arofe in crowded pride, 
 Green fields the uncontiguous domes divide. 
 Th' hiftorian tells of towns of high renown ; 
 The traveller paries by, and finds them gone !
 
 CHANGE. 91 
 
 The city's place is Nature's ground again ; 
 The piles diflblve, and grafs refumes the plain : 
 To rural fcenery turns the fumptuous ftreet, 
 And princes leave to lowly fvvains their feat : 
 The quiet flock, where Riot feafted, feeds; 
 And ftately palaces make room for weeds. 
 The place that Trade's imperial fplendour knew, 
 Where from her river boundlefs wealth fhe drew, 
 (Her crowded harbours, and her hurried fhore, 
 And princely merchants' regal greatnefs o'er) 
 Sees wretched fifhers fordidly refade, 
 Amid the rubbifh of her moulder'd pride. 
 
 More mournful change ! fee man's mod polifh'd 
 
 home, 
 
 Art's fmootheft walk, zfavage fcene become ! 
 The filken lap, that held her niceft fons, 
 Each coarfer work of wildeft Nature owns ! 
 Once coftly floors, patricians wont to tread, 
 The thorn and nettle rudely overfpread ! 
 Of glittering nobles, lo ! the fam'd refort, 
 An houfe for dragons, and of owls the court ! 
 The clattering chariots, and the trampling fteeds, 
 And buzzing crowds, dead foh'tude fucceeds !
 
 92 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 No humming ftreet, no human buftle heard, 
 Howls the lone beaft, or fcreams the moping bird ! 
 While for gay, midnight fong and revelry, 
 Each doleful creature fends a moaning cry ! 
 
 The gorgeous fcenes of wealth, and feaft, and 
 
 dance, 
 
 Melt like the fairy domes of wild romance ; 
 That fwift upflart, amid the defert drear, 
 The darkling hero, on his way, to cheer; 
 With phantom-tapers lit. whofe fpell-built rooms, 
 Banquet, and gems, and fong, and rich perfumes, 
 Pour on his ravifh'd fenfe a fhort delight, 
 Then fwift relapfe to air, and leave their gueft in 
 
 night ! 
 
 Babel ! along Euphrates' banks, I fee, 
 The penfive wanderer vainly afk for thee ! 
 Silent the place ! not one falutes his ears 
 Of all thy viols, harps, and dulcimers! 
 Where thy thick walls and maffive buildings rofe, 
 The fluid air in unfeen atoms flows : 
 Fled like a vifion is the printlefs fcene, 
 As if the fwelling wonder ne'er had been. 
 Nought, nought remains of all the mighty mafs, 
 To prove that once, and point out where, it was !
 
 CHANGE. C^ 
 
 Where are ye all, ye brilliant towns that grac'cl. 
 Mother of ornament, the ancient eaft ? 
 Sons of the morning ! where be all your rays ? 
 Your fight o'erwhelming, wond'rous ftrength of 
 
 blaze? 
 
 Spent are your glories ! loft is all your light ! 
 Extinft ye lie in everlafting night ! 
 
 More weftern meteors equal fates have met : 
 The blazing things afcended but to fet. 
 Where Beauty chofe her feat, enchanting Greece ! 
 Ah ! why did e'er thy lovely fplendours ceafe r 
 Ye graceful flruiStures, elegantly bright 
 With gloffy marble polifh'd into light ; 
 W T hofe full and tumid forms once fed the eye 
 With amplitude of pillar'd majefty ; 
 Diminifti'd now, of gnawing years the prey, 
 A fpare, emaciate grandeur ye difplay : 
 Your walls, reduc'd, but (how ye once were great. 
 The fhades of pomp, and fkeletons of (late ! 
 
 Yet nearer ruins neighbouring proof difplay 
 How low earth's tallell honours Time can lav.
 
 g4 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Lo ! like a lion flain, whofe carcafe awes, 
 Rome, e'en in death, a mournful rev'rence draws f 
 Ah ! how are all thofe godlike works declined, 
 Her matchlefs, more than human heart combin'd ! 
 Thofe domes, fo lofty rear'd, fo ample fwell'd, 
 Her gods that honour'd, or her games that held ! 
 Thofe {lately fabrics, to her heroes rais'd, 
 Form'd to infpire the glorious ac~ls they prais'd ! 
 Thofe various frames, that deck'd with coftly pride, 
 Her fons with foft, commodious eafe fupplied ! 
 That o'er their walks the piilar'd ceiling fpread, 
 From varying {kies a covert or a fhade ; 
 Or, bright with filver, and with jewels pav'd, 
 Their glowing limbs, in floods delicious, lav'd; 
 Or to their walls the wat'ry ftores convey'd, 
 Thro' wond'rous paths almighty Labour made ! 
 
 But, fay, can columns broke, and walls decay'd, 
 Engrofs the eye that marks the nations fade ? 
 Not fallen palaces it mourns alone, 
 And proftrate fanes, and theatres o'erthrown ; 
 A more deprefling image far it finds 
 In mouldering faculties and crumbling minds !
 
 CHANGE. 95 
 
 Meek Slavery crouches low, and licks the rod, 
 With {lately mien where lion-patriots trod: 
 O'er Wifdom's fchools that gave the nations light. 
 Triumphant Dulnefs reigns in depth of night : 
 'Mid claffic fcenes, once feats of minds infpir'd, 
 To fong excited, and by fcience fir'd, 
 LulFd with oblivious drugs, a lolling race 
 Their death-like life in one long (lumber pafs ; 
 And learn'd alone their holy book to read, 
 Enclofe neglected letters in a creed. 
 Where Roman heroes toil'd, and fages taught, 
 And orators harangu'd, and conquerors fought, 
 See drones repofe ! cold antiquarians pore ! 
 And flothful priefts difpenfe their fabled lore ! 
 For Freedom's fife, and clarion's roufmg found, 
 The lute's voluptuous languifh melts around : 
 And church -proceffions pleafe a coward thrpr.g, 
 Where vigorous fpirits, though mifled to wrong, 
 In lengthening triumph drawn, majeftic mov'd 
 along. 
 
 Yet while of human life the fading grace,, 
 Calls the fad dew down mufing Pity's face,
 
 96 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Soon dries the eye, which fmiling Reafon guides 
 To HJM, who o'er this fhifting fcene prefides ; 
 Immortal king ! from all mutation free ! 
 Whofe endlefs being ne'er began to be ; 
 Who ne'er was nothing, who was ever all ; 
 Whofe kingdom did not rife, and cannot fall: 
 On a myfterious throne, high rais'd above 
 E'en the fair change which heavenly orders prove ! 
 While their bright excellence progreffive grew, 
 He, perfect now, ne'er imperfection knew ! 
 Ere worlds began with boundlefs goodnefs blefl, 
 Ne'er needing to be better, always beft ! 
 The penfive Mufe, who thus a mournful figh 
 Hath paid to ftars that fall, and flowers that die, 
 While the fhort glories, brief as fair, fhe mourns, 
 To HIM, the great ENDURER, joyful turns. 
 Glad, fhe adores, depreft by gloomy wanes, 
 That undecreafing LIGHT who all ordains: 
 On HIM fhe leans, reliev'd from withering things, 
 And his immortal counfel raptur'd fings : 
 That fcheme of good which all that dies furvives ; 
 Whate'er decays, for ever fair that thrives : 
 Whofe progrefsadverfe fates, and profp'rouschance, 
 Virtue and vice, and good and ill advance :
 
 CHANGE. 97 
 
 Which draws new fplendour from all mortal gloom; 
 Which all that fades, but feeds with, riper bloom ; 
 Each human fall but props, each fail fucceeds, 
 And all that Fancy deems obftrution fpeeds. 
 
 In Nature's beauteous frame, as cold and heat, 
 And moift and dry, and light and darknefs meet ; 
 Harmonious, in the moral fyftem, join 
 Pleafure and pain, and glory and decline. 
 
 Thee, halcyon fequel of life's labouring tale, 
 Here, or on high, where'er thy feat, I hail ! 
 When to this troubled fcene, that works and boils, 
 *And, wildly bubbling, fweils in falling hills; 
 Of vext, conflicting things thisreftlefs fret, 
 Continual ftruggling in tormenting heat ; 
 A fettled calm fucceeds : the war fubildes : 
 And Viflory for immortal good decides. 
 No dormant ftate, I hail, of flat repofe, 
 Where pant no ardours, where no action glows ; 
 No pool of ftanding life that always deeps, 
 O'er whofe flill fea no breeze of fpirit fweeps ; 
 No fcene, as priefls defcribe the blifs above, 
 Of heavy calmnefs, and of flumb'ring love ; 
 H
 
 gg MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Where ufelefs faints on eafy thrones recline, 
 And tune their idle wires to fongs divine, 
 Relax'd in holy (loth, and pioufly fupine : 
 Nor paftoral fcene, as bards paft ages feign, 
 Who fmg of dulnefs undifturb'd by pain; 
 Of meads, and flocks, and flowers, and brooks, and 
 
 trees, 
 
 And lazy innocence, and torpid eafe. 
 Whofe forcelefs portrait of ill-imag'd Blifs, 
 Difplays alone, in its tame drowfy piece, 
 A languid form, all carelefs laid along, 
 By murmuring waters lull'd, or warbling fong ; 
 As gifted man were only made to fleep, 
 To lie on violets, and to live with (beep ! 
 
 Blifs ! in whofe kindled frame fuch fires I fee, 
 How much unlike are thefe dead forms to thee ! 
 Where is thine ardent gaze, and fparkling eye, 
 And fpringing attitude, in at to fly ? 
 Thine eager chafe of fome diviner end, 
 To which thy keen, intcnfeft efforts tend; 
 Which all thy powers to their full ftretch unfolds*. 
 And thy rapt foul in fweet abforption holds ? 
 No more thefe looks inane refemble thine, 
 Than thofedoll-draughtsthe "human face divine,"
 
 CHANGE. 99 
 
 Which wear a babifh fwell of thoughtlefs cheek, 
 Unmark'd with mind, all fmooth, chinefe, and 
 
 fleek; 
 
 Where not one print of intellect we trace, 
 A blank and linelefs orb of empty face ! 
 
 Not fuch, now beaming on her gliftening eyes, 
 Not fuch the fcene th' exulting Mufe defcries ! 
 E'en more than this, a Itirring, wakeful ftate ; 
 Quick with yet livelier change, yet bufier fate ; 
 But happieft change alone, that blifsful proves, 
 From truth to truth, from good to good, that moves 
 Whofe lovely flux, admir'd of Reafon's eyes, 
 Is only cndlefs fluency of rife ; 
 Where faireft fcenes, from fetters wifely freed, 
 Refign their place to fairer that fucceed, 
 Which, in their turn, make way for yet more fair, 
 And, beauteoufly unftable, difappear ! 
 Delightful ftate ! in which th' admiring Mufe, 
 The heavenly form of true Fruition views ! 
 All bofoms throbbing with a public zeal ; 
 All minds at work t' advance the general weal ; 
 In tuneful chime, on one great aim intent, 
 Harmonious moving with a fweet confent ; ' 
 
 H 2
 
 IOO MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Exploring Nature's mine, where Heav'n hasftor T J 
 The means of welfare in a boundlefs hoard ; 
 Whatever charms the focial ftate they lend, 
 Still eager all, the beauteous piece to mend ; 
 Content in no degree of blifs to reft, 
 Studious to add new bleffings to the bleft ; 
 All prefent excellence refolv'd t' excel, 
 Whate'er its growth, the fum of good tofwett, 
 Awaken'd intellect yet more excite, 
 To Truth's beft lovers more endear her light, 
 Of minds the moft enlarg'd expand the views, 
 In breafts the moft infpir'd new fires infufe, 
 Bid joy fublime to loftier tranfport rife, 
 And breathe yet more of heaven in paradife ! 
 
 Such the fair ftate, in which alone appears 
 The genuine fmile a pure elyfium wears ! 
 . (The reign of ftrife, and wrong, and tumult o'er, 
 And fall and ruin mournful words no more) 
 Serenely fervid ! bufily at eafe ! 
 A fcene of active reft, and glowing peace ! 
 Whofe gentle dove the eagle's force aflumes, 
 And with whofe olive glory's laurel blooms I
 
 CHANGE. 101 
 
 Hail ! radiant ages ! hail, and hafte along ! 
 To reafoning man your fplendid years belong ! 
 Unclofe your leaves of true, unfabled gold, 
 That hidden lie in Fate's rich volume roll'd ! 
 Not Fancy, Faith the Mufe this vifion gave ; 
 Of real fcenes her fober raptures rave : 
 Prophetic fury what (he fings infpires ; 
 Truth's living coal hath lent her lip its fires : 
 Of moral fcience, lamp to love and peace, 
 The lucid crefcent fhines, whofe bright increafe 
 Shall lofe its horns in plenitude of light, 
 And reach a glorious fall, that ne'er Hull wane to 
 night.
 
 JO2 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 LEO MANSUETUS IMP. 
 THE EMPEROR'S TAME LION. 
 
 Freely parafhrafed from the fecond Book of the Sylvte 
 ofStatius. 
 
 This little piece is fuppofed to have been written on the death of a 
 favourite lion of the emperor Domitian, equally remarkable fo; 
 its gentlenefs, courage and ftrength ; which, after a carreer of 
 diftinguiflied glory in the combats of wild beafts exhibited to the 
 Roman people, had the humiliation to be vanquished and (lain by 
 a tiger. 
 
 , 
 
 AND was it but for this, thou did'fl divert, 
 Of each wild habit, that once favage bread ? 
 For this, by all the fubjecl: beafts ador'd, 
 Lord of the woods, obey a feebler lord ? 
 Renounce, for this, the thirft of human gore, 
 Harmlefs to man, an homicide no more ? 
 By inftint taught to make mankind thy prey, 
 Taught by mankind to be as mild as they ! 
 Convert to innocence ! reclaim'd in vain ! 
 And is, at length, no more than this thy gain ?
 
 THE EMPEROR S TAME LION. 103 
 
 How would'ft thou, grown domeflic, leave thy 
 
 home, 
 
 And back, with fteps unforc'd, familiar come ! 
 How would thy magnanimity forbear 
 A conqueror's rage, and learn the fall'n to fpare ! 
 And that dread mouth, oncehuman carnage ftain'd, 
 Mumble, with playful love, th' inferted hand ! 
 Brute nature could not match thy mended kind, 
 Where all the lamb and all the lion join'd ! 
 Gentle in peace, as terrible in fight, 
 Almoft humanity adorn'd thy might ! 
 
 Yet could not all thy winning fweetnefs bend 
 Thofe ruthlefs Fates that frown'd upon thine end! 
 Oh great in combat, at the folemn (how, 
 Thou'rt fall'n at laft, and fall'n, alas, how low ! 
 'Twas not the pit, with treach'rous ground o'erlaid, 
 Andmouth well-malk'd, thy trufting foot betray 'd: 
 Nor by deceitful toils wert thou befet, 
 Impatient captive of the wily net : 
 Nor was it thine, provok'd to open war, 
 Impetuous fpringing on the hunter's fpear, 
 To leave thy fmoaking blood with glory there : 
 H 4
 
 104 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Long thy fame's theatre, yon circling wall*, 
 Before a foe beneath thee, faw thee fall : 
 Saw thee, till then fecure to overcome, 
 Oft on her games as fmil'd exulting Rome, 
 Difdain th' ignoble fpoiler of thy breath, 
 And feel more anguifh from defeat than death. 
 Oh, humbling clofe! Oh, ftrangely ifluing ftrife 
 A foe that fear'd thee, triumph'd o'er thy life ! 
 A coward beaft, for fpeed alone renown'd, 
 Fierce from excefs of terror, dealt the wound ; 
 Snatch'd, with a hurried rage, thy life, and fled ; 
 E'en fled thee falling, and half fear'd thee dead. 
 
 Yon range of dens thy mournful fate declare ; 
 All clos'd, but thine, denote their tenants there : 
 Sad looks the cell, and afks, with open door, 
 A dweller that muft enter there no more ! 
 
 How ill thy royal kindred brook'd to fee, 
 Thy glory tarnifh'd thus, and theirs in thee ! 
 
 * The Circus, or Amphitheatre, where the fpeclacles were pre- 
 fented; which, as the name exprefles, was of a circular, or oval form, 
 confiding of rows of feats, rifing one above another to accommodate 
 the fpeclators, and enclofing an extenfive area for the exhibition of 
 the games.
 
 THE EMPEROR'S TAME LION. 105 
 
 Struck and confounded at the new difgrace, 
 A gen'rous fhame pofTefs'd th' imperial race : 
 Low droop'd tueir manes, and their large brows, 
 
 drawn down, 
 O'erhung their bury'd eyes, and hid 'em in a frown. 
 
 Yet, through that hour, for thee, of deepeft night, 
 Thy fpirit fhot a ray of fplendid light ! 
 Refufing thus to fall, thy ftruggling mind 
 Rofe againfl Fate rebellious unrefign'd 
 So hard it ftrain'd to hold the iffuing life, 
 It wreftled with a half-prevailing ftrife ! 
 The mighty pride detain'd the fleeting breath, 
 Kindled new foul, and animated death ! 
 Eager for fight, e'en in that fainting hour, 
 Thine eyes fought on, when nerve could a& no 
 
 more. 
 
 And when th' unconquer'd foul was wholly fled, 
 Still low'r'd thy fierce remains, and threaten 'd ftill 
 
 tho' dead ! 
 
 So fome brave warrior, whofe diftinguifli'd fword 
 Had many a laurel reap'd, to grace its lord ;
 
 IO6 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Whofe bofom, printed with hiftoric fears, 
 Records the glorious ftory of his wars ; 
 By Vict'ry, long his friend, at length forfook, 
 Raging in death, refents the fatal ftroke : 
 Hard ftrives his tottering frame to reach the foe, 
 Ere yet he fall, to lay his conqueror low : 
 Of feeblenefs impatient, he contends 
 With mighty Fate, and looks of fury fends: 
 Fierce he devours his foe with ardent eyes 
 But the brave a6t his failing arm denies. 
 Stung by remembrance of his former deeds, 
 The falling hero blufhes as he bleeds: 
 His face, while yet a fpark of foul remains, 
 Receives the mounting crimfon from his veins ; 
 As weak and weaker burns life's languid flame, 
 Faint and more faint appears the fading fliame ; 
 The {lately fpirit fcornfully retires, 
 And, with his dying breath, the foldier's pride ex- 
 pires. 
 
 Yet, vanquifti'd beaft, this foothing requiem 
 
 hear! 
 
 Thy fall is honour'd by the public tear. 
 Thy favage grandeur civil glory knew ; 
 The foreft's king the city's favourite grew.
 
 THE EMPEROR S TAME LION. 107 
 
 And chief let this confole thy fullen ftiade ; 
 3 Midft all th' innumerous tribes of beftial dead, 
 Of cofllieft race, that bit the fcenic plain, 
 An unlamented heap of vulgar flain, 
 (Oh, proud diftindtion to thy memory fhown !) 
 Great Caefar's figh adorns thy death alone.
 
 JOS MISCELLANIES. 
 
 WRITTEN ON VISITING THE GARDENS AT ' 
 
 VERSAILLES. 
 
 I SEE it not- where is the fylvan ffcene ? 
 
 A fabric, tender, flexile, moid, and green ? 
 
 Whofe fweetly pointlefs lines and blander dies 
 
 Nourifh, with mild regale, the fuited eyes? 
 
 Lo ! all around is rigid, dry, and brown ! 
 
 Unfruitful nefs in ftate ! a pomp of ftone ! 
 
 Where verdure, lovelieft work of Light, fhould 
 bloom, 
 
 Flowers deck the ground and breathe the chafle per- 
 fume, 
 
 Broad fteril walks their dufty plain expand, 
 
 In all the majefty of fize and fand ! 
 
 Where frolic trees fhould wave their pliant boughs, 
 
 Unbending ftatues fleep in lifelefs rows. 
 
 Each fairer, freer work of Nature, here, 
 
 Spoil'd of its freedom, is no longer fair. 
 
 Hard rules the cramp'd, uneafy forms confine, 
 
 Nor leave the punifh'd eye one lawlefs line :
 
 VISITING VERSAILLES. IOQ 
 
 No ftroke enlarg'd from rigorous order flrays ; 
 No part appears that wantons and that plays : 
 Grandeur, grave Power, reftri&s the fcene around, 
 Checks all its fmiles, and prims the folemn ground. 
 Imperial Might hath toil'd, with vaft expence, 
 To give the tortur'd fight complete offence ; 
 To bid a labour'd blank of" grace appear, 
 Superbly pleafurelefs, and trimly drear ! 
 
 True tafte precluding, how fhould boaftful Pride 
 E'er learn the lovely art, her art to hide ? 
 Her only aim is all her art to fhow ; 
 Or who her garden's wond'rous coft could know ? 
 Unanxious to adorn the fcene by ftealth, 
 No wit fhe ufes, all fhe fpends is wealth. 
 Studious her ample treafures to reveal, 
 Nature alone fhe labqurs to conceal. 
 Each native bent to beauty Nature (hows, 
 Inftant fhe crofles, eager to oppofe : ^ 
 
 Thee, Nature, thee, the vulgar awe to raife, 
 Perverfe, fhe thwarts in all thy graceful ways I 
 The free-made waters, her abhorr'd control 
 Shuts up in bafons, and forbids to roll ;
 
 IIO MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Or tofc'd in air, with harfli, tyrannic force, 
 Their ftream purfues a flrange diftorted courfe ; 
 As flame fpires upward, her fantaftic fount 
 Compels the cadent element to mount ; 
 Like fparks toward heaven, the drops afpiring fly, 
 And upright currents fhoot into the fky ! 
 
 The joylefs eye, with fruitlefs longing, roves 
 O'er the ftiffgrounds, for lines which Nature loves. 
 Where is her carelefs, fweetly devious way, 
 Where Pleafure's followers long delight to ftray ? 
 To emulate the city's ftraighteft ftreet, 
 Shap'd to affift the hafte of bufy feet, 
 The lengthen'd rule is levell'd to define 
 Each rigid walk's long rectitude of line. 
 
 Lo ! the (horn woods no rich luxuriance wear, 
 Lopp'd of their (hade, to form a fylvan fquare ! 
 No eafy fvvells, without, the fenfe delight ; 
 With iharpeft edge each corner wounds the fight : 
 The paths, within, in anfwering angles made, 
 Conduct thro' galleries of level (hade ;
 
 VISITING VERSAILLES. Ill 
 
 Whofe even leaves their wainfcot-plain difplay, 
 And their green ceiling's flat defence from day : 
 All feems the work, fo fet is every part, 
 Not of the gard'ner's, but the mafon's art. 
 
 If from right lines the formal fcenery fwerve, 
 'Tis ne'er in eafy Beauty's wanton curve : 
 When fuffer'd thence to rove, the flavifh line, 
 Thro' all its courfe, the compaffes confine ; 
 Round rolls the ftroke with mathematic care, 
 All centre-bound, exactly circular : 
 No fportive way it takes, at large and free, 
 No gambol plays of freakful liberty, 
 But all conftrain'd, with ftrift precifion errs, 
 And, to the point from whence it fallied, fteers. 
 So pris'ners, when allow'd a while to ftray, 
 A jealous follower watches all the way ; 
 In a fmall round their llraiten'd footfteps move, 
 And as they reft, in cuftody they rove ; 
 A little hour the captive wanderers roam, 
 Then back to jgil again dejec~led come. 
 
 That power defpotic hath obey'd no bound, 
 Is all I note in all this vaunted ground. 
 4
 
 112 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Lo ! with the lovely forms of right and fair 
 How comprehensive is its impious war ! 
 The human fcene could not alone contain 
 The o'erflowing rage of its unrighteous reign ; 
 E'en thy green kingdom, Nature, it invades, 
 And fways a tyrant-fcepter o'er the fhades : 
 The murd'rous knife, with rural fweets at war, 
 Relentlefs hath refus'd one charm to fpare : 
 I hear the Genius moan, as round 1 rove, 
 Of each methodically wounded grove ; 
 And to the peafant's wail, and prifoner's figh, 
 The bleeding Dryad joins her plaining cry. 
 No Graces here in fprightly meafures move, 
 Their fetter'd feet oppofe the dance they love : 
 Oppreflive Art erects her iron throne, 
 And injur'd Nature mourns her freedom gone.
 
 VISITING ERMENONVILLE. 113 
 
 ON VISITING THE GARDENS OF 
 
 ERMENONVILLE. 
 
 Rura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes, 
 Flumina amem fylvafque inglorius. O ubi campi 
 
 O qui me gelidis in vallibus Haemi 
 
 Siftat, et ingenti ramorum protegat umbra '. 
 
 HAIL, beauteous grounds ! where Nature reigns 
 
 the queen, 
 
 And Art, her modeft handmaid, ferves unfeen ! 
 Efcap'd from Pride's dipt (hades and carv'd alcove 
 Mine eyes, refreih'd, dwell on the fhapes they love. 
 The friends of Nature here delighted trace 
 All her encourag'd world of blooming grace ! 
 With fweet confent, t* enrich the bleft retreat, 
 Here all her amiable forms are met ! 
 No tyrant law, in thefe elyfian plains, 
 Her inclination to be fair reftrains : 
 Prifons her waters, and curtails her trees, 
 And robs her eafy works of all their cafe. 
 I
 
 For trim parterre, and ranks of marflial'd flowers, 
 Long, uninfleaed paths, and formal bowers, 
 Landfcapes, that earth's fpontaneous fmiles appear, 
 That look as carelefs, tho' effe&s of care, 
 Include whate'er luxurious eyes require, 
 And rich completion of delight infpire \ 
 The ground, whofe outline playful Fancy drew, 
 With pleaiing change of furface charms the view : 
 Now heaves in hills, in valleys now defcends, 
 Now in the mead's expanded plain extends. 
 The woods, which no obdurate fteel bereaves, 
 SweJl on the eye with all their wealth of leaves ; 
 In whofe wide realm of (hadows, while we (hun 
 The dazzling regions of the fummer's fun, 
 (Save that fome flender lines of golden light 
 Pierce through the porous fcreen, and fpeck the 
 
 night) 
 
 The vralk that fweetfy rambles, pleas'd, we find, 
 And our green way, with blifsful error, wind : 
 The fmuous paths, by Beauty taught to twine, 
 Curl all along their undulating line : 
 The alley's leafy walls, a wavy veil, 
 From the pleas'd fight the coining fcene conceal ;
 
 VISITING ERMENONVILLE. 11 
 
 Each rounded turn renews the fweet furprife, 
 And a frefh bowery view delights the eyes ! 
 
 The unforc'd water, licens'd here to flray, 
 Purfues its native, roving, downward way : 
 Now, in the river, rolls an ample tide, 
 And wreaths, thro' funny meads, its azure pride : 
 Now, in cool ftreainlets, all retir'd it roams, 
 And lends its flowing grace to fylvan glooms j 
 In gentle lapfe through the deep umbrage Jed, 
 Along a fweetly rude and craggy bed, 
 Whofe rugged ftones, objected to the tide> 
 With tuneful interruption break its glide; 
 While oft, to vary its wild-tinkling fong, 
 Down a rough ftair the current drops along, 
 And fooths the ear, amid the filent fhades, 
 With lulling warblings of minute cafcades : 
 Now, all impetuous rufhing from on high, 
 Sublime, it ftrikes th' aftonifh'd ear and eye : 
 In foaming cadence, and with thund'ring found, 
 The liquid ruin tumbles to the ground ! 
 
 Fair Novelty cxhaufts her needful power, 
 To flay the wings of Pleafure's fleeting hour ; 
 
 I 2
 
 Il6 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Repair, with frefh fupply, the joys of fight, 
 And keep from languiftiing the long delight- 
 Onward we wander with unwearied eyes, 
 And hail fucceflive pi&ures as they rife ! 
 Sweet objects, made by union yet more fweet, 
 In each harmonious compofition meet : 
 While each fair landfcape, from its happy place 
 In the juft feries, draws a fairer grace ; 
 Contraft to every charm frefh magic gives, 
 And beauty, beauty pleaflngly relieves. 
 Here, the rich, brilliant fcene allures the view, 
 That afks of morning beams each fprightlier hue ; 
 Where living imagery conftant moves 
 'Mid the ftill lovelinefs of plains and groves;- 
 Gracing the piece, the village-path appears, 
 Unceafing trod by ruftie paflengers ; 
 The peafant, chanting many an airy fong, 
 His humble beaft of burden guides along ; 
 The flock and herd the plodding keeper drives, 
 And all around the glowing landfcape lives ! 
 Now, to a different view our fteps repair, 
 And hail the form of calmer Beauty there ; 
 That wooes the fun, flow lapfing from his height, 
 To clothe her placid fcene in gentler light ;
 
 VISITING ERMENONVILLE. llf 
 
 Delicious quietude here fooths the breaft, 
 Of power to lull e'en troubled fouls to reft ; 
 Here penfive Revery would choofe her feat, 
 When (he would all the excluded wrld forget, 
 Stunn'd by its noife, to this ftill region fteal, 
 And all the luxury of filence feel ! 
 
 Rival of Arcady ! where'er we range, 
 Thy fweets enchant us in an endiefs change ! 
 By thee, e'en Clifden's bower, and Hagley's pride, 
 And Shenftone's fimpler fhaSes, are all outvied ! 
 Whate'er of rapture Eden's felf could give, 
 From thy rich fcenes the gladden 'd eyes receive ! 
 
 One only image, 'mid the beauteous groves, 
 Tranfport's wild burft oppofes and reproves ; 
 Dims with a fudden dew the fparkling eye, 
 And afks from Ecftafy herfelf a figh ! 
 There fleeps he *, Nature ! ah, for ever loft ! 
 Of all mankind who lov'd thine image moft ! 
 
 * Rouffeauj whofe tomb then ftood in the middle of a groupe of 
 poplars, on a froall ifland fituated in a beautify! lake : a fpot, to 
 which he was particularly attached when living, and in which it was 
 his defire to be interred,, 
 
 13
 
 rl g MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Where all thy faireft features charm our eyes, 
 To thine afTembled beauties blind he lies ! 
 Alone in death, who lov'd to live alone, 
 See where fequefter'd ftands the hermit-ftone ! 
 As his (hy afties fought mankind to fly, 
 Reclufe in fhades, the lonely relics lie. 
 Oh focial folitary ! warm to embrace, 
 And fwift to fhun, our dear, but dreaded, race ! 
 Amid the kind you lov'd averfe to live, 
 Of all the world the friend and fugitive ! 
 Accept this figh from one thy page hath charm'd, 
 With various power, illumin'd, melted, warm'd ! 
 But, ah ! the mood thy memory infpires, 
 Other than this exulting fcene requires : 
 Not now the time, (till then the drops fhall ftay,) 
 Due to thy moving tomb, the tears to pay : 
 While gaudy day his flaring luftre flings ; 
 While to the fun the fhouting landfcape fings ; 
 And Nature, all ornate, and drefs'd in noon, 
 Forgets thy grave, and laughs around the ftone. 
 This pride of flow'rs that decks the feftive ground; 
 This plumy revelry that warbles round ; 
 This infedVjoy on painted wings that plays, 
 Flirting and glittering in the fplendid blaze ; 
 7
 
 VISITING ERMENONVILLE. i i 
 
 Of all that lives this fportful jubilee, 
 111 meets the figh that fain would fwell o'er thec. 
 Let me attend, oh lov'd, lamented {hade ! 
 Till the bright colours of the landfcape fade: 
 Then, when the joyous glare of wanton day, 
 XJnfocial with my forrow, dies away ; 
 When thefe gay plains a graver afpe& wear, 
 And the condoling fcene my gloom (hall {hare ; 
 When folemn {hades correct thefe gladfome meads, 
 O'er this vaft wood when ebon darknefs fpreads, 
 And its high theatre of double night 
 The moon behind furmounts with milky light ; 
 When her foft rays the mournful ifle illume, 
 Thro' the dark trees appears the mow-white tomb, 
 On the calm grave the tranquil beams repofe, 
 And the fmooth lake the placid filver fliows ; 
 When thus the fombrous radiance, meekly bright, 
 Suits the mild picture to the fad delight ; 
 When mute is every beaft, and every bird, 
 Nor voice of man, nor found of aught is heard ; 
 But all things lull'd in fympathetic fleep, 
 Still as thy duft, congenial filence keep ; 
 With mufing Sorrow's penfive mood accord, 
 Revere the facred grief, nor fpeak a word :
 
 120 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Thus footh'd and aided by the aflbciate fcene, 
 Confenting all without, with all within ; 
 Then full of thee, fweet fage ! fhall foftly rife, 
 Sole breath that ftirs, my lengthen'dftreamof fighs ; 
 Down o'er my cheek, uncheck'd, the dews fhall 
 
 flow, 
 
 Of undifturb'd, undiffipated woe ; 
 My debt of tender thought be amply paid, 
 And with full forrows fatisfied thy fliade !
 
 INFANCY. 121 
 
 ON THE GENERAL COMPLACENCY WITH WHiCH 
 INFANTS ARE CONTEMPLATED. 
 
 WHENCE the delight, fweet Infancy, 
 That each fond eye derives from thee ? 
 Each feature of thy face is fair ; 
 But not a line of foul is there : 
 No fentiment thofe eyes difplay ; 
 Nor Fancy's flame, nor Judgment's ray ; 
 All void they roll, the blanks of mind, 
 Nor wit, nor wifdom, there I find : 
 Nor in their vacant circle lie 
 Or friendfliip, or philanthropy ; 
 In thy contracted bofom's fpace 
 Scarce e'en thy mother holds a place : 
 Yet each fond eye, fweet Infancy, 
 Delights to bend its look on thee. 
 
 I blulh to tell the reafon why * 
 I bhifh for frail Humanity. 
 So oft the fenfe that time fupplies 
 Proves but capacity of vice ;
 
 123 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 A power to lore and to believe 
 Th' illufions that to wrong deceive ; 
 A mental light that bafely fhines, 
 To guide the fteps of dark deligns ; 
 A miner's lamp, low paths to light, 
 Deeds under ground, the works of night - t 
 We turn from vice-encumber'd fenfe/ 
 To fmile on empty innocence. 
 
 Ah, fay, when man has mind attain'd, 
 What has the ripen'd creature gain'd ? 
 What are the lines of thought he wears? 
 Furrows of dark, uncomely cares. 
 Now that it fpeaks, what fays his eye ? 
 Perhaps it looks the filent lie ; 
 Or ugly Pride deforms its glance ; 
 Or Envy bends its ray aikance ; 
 Or plotting Malice knits the brow, 
 And o'er the darken'd ball draws low ; 
 Or open Fury's dreadful glare, 
 Darting fierce fparkles, lightens there ! 
 
 This fcene of things, indignant, fcan, 
 See Man, throughout, the peft of Man !
 
 INFANCY. 123 
 
 On yon cane-planted cluftering ftiores, 
 Round which the weftern billow roars, 
 That whip, whofe lafti fo loud refounds, 
 *Tis MAN that lifts, 'tis MAN it wounds ! 
 The wretch in that dark room who pines, 
 'Tis not Difeafe, 'tis MAN confines ! 
 Thofe corfes yonder plain that ftrew, 
 'Twas MAN, and not the tiger, flew ! 
 Fir'd cities blacken heaven with fmoke ; 
 'Twas MAN'S red light'ning dealt the ftroke* 
 
 Eager, or gold, or power to gain, 
 What moral checks his heat reftrain ? 
 Onward with furious hafte he fpeeds, 
 And cares not over whom he treads. 
 When Force denies her open aid, 
 He afks of Fraud her coward fhade. 
 What traps to catch his coming prey, 
 Wily he lays athwart the way ! 
 See him, to win his fordid aim, 
 Profaning Friendfhip's hallowed name ! 
 Jf te be fervile fpeed his ends, 
 How low the fervile fpirit bends !
 
 124 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 See godlike man, " ereft and tall," 
 
 Into an abject reptile fall ! 
 
 The meannefs that degrades his heart 
 
 Spreads vilenefs o'er each tainted part, 
 
 His limbs, his tongue, his face, his eyes ; 
 
 He bows, and crawls, and fmiles, and lies ! 
 
 In Traffic's fphere, that fchool of fnares, 
 
 Extolling, good or ill, his wares, 
 
 He learns the credulous to cheat, 
 
 With fmooth and eloquent deceit. 
 
 Each rival flirs his fierceft hate ; 
 
 To work his fall, he lies in wait ; 
 
 Affaflin-like, with fecret blow, 
 
 He lays his wounded fortunes low. 
 
 If, born to lift ambitious eyes, 
 
 He feeks in myftic courts to rife, 
 
 Of his dark breaft each fhrouded thought 
 
 Is wrapt in all the {hades of plot : 
 
 He walks, a gloomy foe to light, 
 
 Obfcene of mind, a man of night. 
 
 If gold, deriv'd from human ills, 
 
 ( Heart- fleeling fource !) his coffer fills, 
 
 Thofe ills he views with gliftening eyes ! 
 
 Exulting hails them as they rife j
 
 INFANCY. J25 
 
 And, a&ing all we paint of hell, 
 Attempts their mournful fum to fwell ! 
 If adding clouds to clouded laws, 
 And whitening o'er the blackeft caufe, 
 His ftream of affluence fupply ; 
 Sworn foe of beauteous amity, 
 He fmiles on all the broils of life, 
 And feeds, like Difcord's fiend, the ftrife !" 
 Or if he draw his growing wealth 
 From others' lofs of valued health, 
 The fickening crowd with joy he fees ; 
 Far more their foe than their difeafe ! 
 More fwift to fpoil them than relieve, 
 Lefs fkill'd to fave them than deceive, 
 By other arts than thofe that heal, 
 He builds on human woes his weal. 
 See, when of wealth or power pofleft, 
 What hateful paffions ftain his bread ! 
 Mark the proud fcorn that fills his eye, 
 As dowerlefs Virtue pafles by ': 
 Beliold the human fpirit broke 
 Beneath his hard, domeftic yoke ! 
 Or, rais'd to yet more wide command, 
 And made the lord of all the Jand,
 
 146 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 View him uprear his lofty head, 
 And on a proftrate nation tread, 
 Their hands with iron fetters bind ; 
 With prejudice enchain their mind} 
 Studious to lengthen Error's fhade, 
 Forbid the light of Truth to fpread ; 
 Leaft by that light the flaves fhould fee, 
 They are not what they ought to be. 
 
 Hence the delight, fweet Infancy, 
 That each fond eye derives from thee. 
 Though no auguft, illuftrious gueft 
 Vouchfafe to lodge within thy bread ; 
 Though Virtue's azure mantle, there, 
 Nor Truth with funmine'-veft appear j 
 Yet there we mark, with mild delight, 
 The Maid that wears the robe of white. 
 
 From ftain thy fpotlefs heart is free : 
 No tongue hath ill to tell of thee. 
 Nor crimes remembered bid thee weep, 
 Nor crimes projected break thy fleep. 
 No fordid paflions odious heat 
 Hath made, as yet, thy breaft its feat.
 
 INFANCY. 127 
 
 This world, our vice fo dark hath made, 
 Owes, yet, to thine no added fhade. 
 'Mid the wide fcene of barbarous deeds, 
 No wound, of thy inflicYmg, bleeds. 
 Not one of all the injur'd throng 
 Calls thee the author of his wrong. 
 No wretch, to want and flavery born. 
 Hath had from thee a look of fcorn ; 
 Or dropt the proud indignant tear, 
 Thine infolence of rule to bear ; 
 Or, with fuccefslefs plaint, implor'd 
 A morfel from thy loaded board. 
 No falfehood in that afpeft fmiles ; 
 Thofe lips no adulation Oils ; 
 Thy guilelefs eyes thine heart declare ; 
 Index of all that pafles there : 
 No phyfiognomy we need, 
 Thy bofom's bottom clear to read. 
 
 For this, each eye, fweet Infancy, 
 Delights to bend its look on thee ! 
 Since ftronger fouls their ftrength employ, 
 And ftrain their powers but to deftroy ;
 
 128 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Complacence turns her view from thencef 
 To feeblenefs and innocence. 
 Since vigorous falcons tyrants are, 
 The hovering terror of the air ; 
 Since eagles dip their beaks in blood, 
 And make their meal on throbbing food ; 
 From them the falling eye of Love 
 Drops to the weak, but harmlefs dove. 
 
 It glads Affeftion's foul to fee 
 The fharers of her fmile agree : 
 And he whofe heart from blot is clear, 
 And to whofe bofom both are dear, 
 (What feldom long remain allied, 
 What life's fell fcenes too foon divide,) 
 Is pleas'd to catch, while yet he. can, 
 United, innocence and man.
 
 THE CONTRAST. 
 
 THE CONTRAST, 
 
 As late I ftray'd, with carelefs ftep, 
 And raptur'd eye, o'er hills, and plains ; 
 Sudden a fylvan^ cool retreat 
 A while my roving foot detains. 
 
 r The trees, in fcatter'd clufters, fpread 
 
 Their green relief from fummer's blaze ! 
 The feather'd concourfe throng'd the fhadc, 
 Chanting their wild and choral lays. 
 
 Sweet glades the leafy glooms divide 
 With pleafing intervals of light ; 
 While the rich landfcape's diftant pride, 
 Thro' happieft inlets, reach'd the fight. 
 
 Each beauteous flower around me blew, 
 That e'er in Nature's garden blows : 
 No bufh without its woodbine grew, 
 On very bramble blufh'd the rofe. 
 K
 
 130 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 " Relic of ancient Paradife ! 
 In mercy left !" entranc'd I faid : 
 Here, here fhall reft my wand' ring eyes ;, 
 And here my wand'ring limbs be laid. 
 
 Reclin'd, I gaze with tranfport round. 
 All to romantic thought rciign'd ! 
 Enchantment feems to blefs the ground, 
 And fweet enthufiafm wfaps my mind 1 
 
 Soothing, Arcadian dreams arife, 
 Of rtymphs, and fwains, and love-carv'd trees/ 
 And bowers and garlands, lutes and fighs r 
 And paftoral innocence and peace. 
 
 Now o'er fair Venus' vernal court,. 
 Scene of delight, my fancy roves ; 
 And fees the Loves and Graces fport 
 7 Mong myrtle fhades, and caffia groves. 
 
 Sudden*, the flowery viflon flies ! 
 The Loves outfpread their purple wings, 
 And fpeed their flight with piercing cries ;. 
 While Horror round his fhadow flings f 
 8
 
 THE CONTRAST. 
 
 In part conceal'd by yonder bough, 
 A form that raifes muflngs drear, 
 Now flrikes mine eye, that not till now- 
 Had turn'd its glance attentive there. 
 
 Long to the fhuddering trav'ller ftiown, 
 Lo ! the black chain of infamy ! 
 And lo ! the laft, dry, crumbling bone 
 Of him the laws condemn'd to die ! 
 
 Say, what dire omens curs'd thy birth, 
 Oh born, unbleft, to fad defpair ? 
 Say, for what crime, outcaft from earth, 
 Thus grimly fepulchred in air ? 
 
 Dark, difmal pictures now employ 
 My penfive breaft, and thence expel 
 All lightfome forms of gentle joy ; 
 Ye fmiling images, farewel ! 
 
 Dire fcenes fucceed : The tragic blade 
 Gleams horrible thro' night's dun gloom ! 
 And Murder, fhrouded in the {hade, 
 Steals foft along th' invaded room ! 
 
 K a V '-7-'
 
 X5*. MISCELLANIES. 
 
 And now I view the trembling fteelv 
 While clos'd in fleep the vidim's eye, 
 With hurried thruih, deep gafhes deal ! 
 The wretch awakes ! awakes to die ! 
 
 Reveal'd by morn, the midnight deed 
 Sufpends the pale difcoverer's breath ! 
 J hear the {cream of horror fpread'l 
 I fee the purple couch of death ! 
 
 The murderer flies ; but flies in vairtf 
 Seiz'd by the outftretch'd arm of Law : 
 The fullen prifoner clanks his chain, 
 Laid hopelefs on the fcatter'd ftraw. 
 
 Oh, hateful clofe ! fenfe-withering fight ! 
 See God's fcath'd image moul'd'ring there : 
 The feat of Reafon's holy light 
 Debas'd the fowls of heaven to fcare ! 
 
 Oh, iron ftate of rude mankind ! 
 Thou human thing, of man accurff, 
 What virtues would have warm'd thy raindy 
 Had fcenes of kindlier influence nurft. !
 
 THE CONTRAST. 
 
 Society's deferted child ! 
 From her neglect thine errors flowed : 
 She left thine heart untrain'd and wild, 
 Nor paid the Mother's cares fhe owed. 
 
 Heedlefs within thee to inft-il 
 Of juft and right perceptions clear. 
 She but proclaim'd her lordly will, 
 And call'd no paflion forth but fear. 
 
 Each rifing fcene of opening life 
 To thy deluded fancy fhowed, 
 For gold, one feverifli, maddenny; ftrifc, 
 As gold contain'd all human good. 
 
 The bloated fons of Luxury, 
 With coftly fare, to furfeit fed, 
 Met, on each fide, tliine envious eye, 
 And fir'd thy wifh for more than bread, 
 
 Thou faw'ft RefpecYs uplifted eyes 
 The rich, whate'er their crimes, adore, 
 Thou faw'ft the rich the poor defpife, 
 And the defpife for being poor. 
 K 3
 
 1^4 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Thou faw'ft the great ones of the globe 
 To their too much yet adding more ; 
 Array 'd in rohes of honour rob, 
 And deluge fields with feas of gore, 
 
 Thou knew'ft that, on their blood-ftain'd plain, 
 In dying anguifh MILLIONS groan ! 
 And, thy more humble ends to gain, 
 Thine arm was rais'd to murder one. 
 
 Then they, whofe ill tuition fowed, 
 (Too quick of growth) the baneful feed, 
 The plant with fierce intolerance mowedj 
 Becaufe it prov'd a noxious weed ! 
 
 And was it here, oh, heavy doom ! 
 Thou bad'ft the beauteous day adieu ? 
 And wore the earth this gladfome bloom ? 
 And wore the heav'ns this cloudlefs blue ? 
 
 Oh Death ! more gloomy look'd thy (hade 
 To the fad exile from the light, 
 As in this fcene the wretch furvey'd 
 Whate'er can charm the ravifli'd light !
 
 THE CONTRAST. 
 
 The firfl offender thus his eye 
 O'er Eden's forfeit beauties threw ; 
 And, heaving forrovy's deepeft figh, 
 Jireath'd to his bowers a long adieu. 
 
 Ye who direft the focial ftate, 
 Which tauntingly ye civil call ! 
 Who whip the crimes yourfelves create, 
 Yourfelves mod criminal of all ! 
 
 Irreverent of life's facred flame, 
 Who, when a wretch your law has broke, 
 Without one effort to reclaim, 
 Reprove by ftern deftrucYion's ilroke ! 
 
 Cannot the city's ample room 
 Your polity's dark frowns confine, 
 That thus they fpread their angry gloojm, 
 Where lovelieft Nature frniles benign? 
 
 And fail thy {hades, fweet Solitude, 
 From focial ills to fcrcen my view ? 
 Here muft the odious forms intrude ? 
 Hither my tortur'd eye purfue ? 
 K 4
 
 136 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Oh, violation moft profane ! 
 That thus disfigures fcenes like thefe ; 
 And fills each gentler breaft with pain, 
 Where all around confpires to pleafe ! 
 
 Hither, ye erring rulers, come ; 
 O'er this bland picture roll your eyes ; 
 Obferve how foft the landfcape's bloom ! 
 The tender azure of thefe Ikies ! 
 
 Inftru&ed in this genial fchool, 
 Mellow your crude, inclement plan : 
 Copy mild Nature's gentle rule, 
 And learn, like her, to fmile on man.
 
 ON THE DEATH OF A YPJJNG LADY. 137 
 
 MONODY 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF A YOUNG LADY. 
 
 OH Pity ! maid of warm, difTolving foul ! 
 Whofe lips effufe one foft, unceafing figh ; 
 Whofe eyes o'er all the world of mifery roll, 
 With tendereft dews adorn'd, and ne'er a moment 
 dry : 
 
 Turn thy moift gaze to yon untimely tomb; 
 There, where that yew tree throws its night of 
 
 fliacle, 
 
 Black'ning the fcene with a religious gloom ; 
 Anthelia's faded form 'tis there that they have laid. 
 
 Say, haft thoufeen, and hatlthou forrowingfeen, 
 Kill'd by the eaft, a beauteous rofe-bud die, 
 Juft as the red peep'd thro' the parting green, 
 Forbid t' unrol its bluih to Expedation's eye ?
 
 138 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Say, haft thou view'd, and haft thou figh'd to 
 
 view, 
 
 Dark, envious clouds eclipfe the orient ray, 
 And, fwift the reign of Darknefs to renew, 
 In {hades untimely veil the rofy youth of Day ? 
 
 O'er loft Anthelia's turf then drop thy tear : 
 Then figh thy forrows o'er Anthelia's ftone : 
 For faireft rofe-bud never bloom'd fo fair ! 
 For morning's lovelieft beams ne'er half fo lovely 
 flione ! 
 
 By fwift privations Heav'n her patience prov'd : 
 Full foon each parent's wing withdrew its {hade : 
 She faw difeafe confume whom moft {he lov'd: 
 She felt its ftealing power her own frail form in- 
 vade. 
 
 That form was fair : but drew HO borrow 'd grace 
 From aught that Faihion's glitt'ring daughters 
 
 wear : 
 
 Fated, fair fufferer ! was thy beauteous face 
 To be fet off alone by for row's gliftering tear.
 
 pN THE DEATH OF A YOUNG LADY. 139 
 
 In Mifery's fchool the docile pupil fat : 
 Death fnatch'd her friends, and Health her youth 
 
 forfook : 
 
 Yet not a whifper once complam'd of fate, 
 fleav'n ftay'd her leaning heart, and Peace becalm'd 
 her look. 
 
 7 Mid life's black ftorms, their angry fires that 
 
 fling 
 At each fair bough where man's fond heart vvoulcj 
 
 fit; 
 
 On which the wanderer hopes to reft its wing, 
 And build its neft of joys, and carol iits delight; 
 
 Thy foot, white dove, Religion's laurel found : 
 Fixt on that hallow 'd branch, ferene, and fafe, 
 Thou faw'ft the harmlefs Hght'nings play around; 
 Affur'd, no lawlefs flafh durft finge the holy leaf, 
 
 Say, Death, thou never paufing conqueror, fay, 
 A brighter fpoil did e'er thy trophy boaft ? 
 Ye fhining tenants of eternal day ! 
 When did a fairer mind e'er reach your blifgful coaft?
 
 I4O MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Defcend, fome radiant feraph, from the Ikies, 
 Defcend, and tell us how Anthelia fmgs : 
 Paint the high rapture kindling in her eyes ! 
 Say with how fvveet a touch fbe fweeps her found- 
 ing firings. 
 
 Fond Fancy ! ceafe. Anthelia's fame to raife, 
 The labouring mufe, with vain ambition, tries: 
 Anthelia hears not the afpiring praife ; 
 Loft in the grander note of loud-acclaiming fkies. 
 
 Living, {he lov'd each chafle and flmple grace ; 
 Let no vain fculpture tell where low fhe lies: 
 Thy modelt violet, Nature, deck the place ; 
 More elegant than all that toiling Art fupplies. 
 
 Oft t,o the fpot domeftic * Grief repairs, 
 In penfive foiitude to footh her care, 
 And wet the mournful hillock with her tears ; 
 While Nature's gentle hand leads the fair pilgrirn 
 there. 
 
 # A furviving fitter, then fole relic of the family.
 
 ON THE DEATH OF A YOUNG LADY. 141 
 
 Night, to the folemn dwellings of the dead, 
 Had lent its awful ftillnefs and its gloom ; 
 And the fick moon a languid beam difplay'd; 
 When forth flie went to weep o'er the accuflom'd 
 tomb: 
 
 " Sad Phoebe !" faid fhe, " doft thou mourn thy 
 
 wanes : 
 
 Ah ! mourn for mine : my borrow 'd joys are gone : 
 Of all my full-orb'd blifs no ray remains, 
 To gild the fad opaque that late fofplendid (hone ! 
 
 Say, great Eternal, why forbid to blow 
 This beauteous gem ? oh, tell a wonderer* why f 
 While noxious weeds fo long unwithering grow J" 
 Hark ! yonder finning form, mild leaning from 
 the iky : 
 
 *' Nor mourn, nor murmur, child of frailty, 
 
 more; 
 
 Nor let thy foul in vain refearches rove : 
 Patient attend the hour, when Truth mall pour 
 A clear unclouded light o'er Heaven's uufullied 
 love."
 
 142 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 THE NIGHTINGALE, 
 
 THE foul of fong mine eat receives ! 
 Sure, the fvveet Deity of found 
 To the iiill grove a leflbn gives, 
 And feather'd fcholars liften round I 
 
 The raviuVd world fufpends its roar : 
 Creation all is mute to hear : 
 While artlefs mufic's utmoft power 
 Is pour'd in Nature's wondering ear I 
 
 Pleas'd with her Tingle chantrefs, Night, 
 Contented, fcorns to envy Day ; 
 Though countlefs warblers loud unite, 
 To fmg his all-infpiring ray. 
 
 Now all the Landfcape's loft in (hade, 
 And Light forfakes thd mourning eye, 
 It feems as pitying Sound eflayed 
 His all of folace to fupply.
 
 THE NIGHTINGALE. 143 
 
 The firft foft rifing of the lay 
 So gently pleas'd attention wins, 
 Scarce can the ftilleft hearkener fay, 
 When filence ends, and voice hegins. 
 
 By fine degrees her tuneful throat 
 Attains its filver height of fong ; 
 Then pours the round, dilated note, 
 And breathes the mellow fmoothnefs long, 
 
 So when the heart Ulvfles ftole, 
 With accents low his lips began ; 
 The mufic flowly fwell'd its roll, 
 Till in full tides the honey ran,
 
 144 MISCELLANIES, 
 
 TO A ROBIN, 
 
 WHOSE NEST HAD BEEN TAKEN OUT OF THfe 
 AUTHOR'S GARDEN, WHERE IT HAD LONG 
 
 BEEN ACCUSTOMED TO BUILD. 
 
 SPARE thy reproach, thou more than tongue, 
 
 That little, lively eye ! 
 It was not I that ftole thy young ; 
 
 Indeed it was not I. 
 
 With pleafure equal to thine oxvn, 
 
 I've watch 'd thy tender brood ; 
 And mark'd how fondly thou haft flown, 
 
 To bear them daily food. 
 
 Nor e'en than thine with lefs delight, 
 
 I look'd and long'd to fee, 
 The firft attempts of infant flight, 
 
 With patience taught by thec.
 
 TO A ROBIN. 145 
 
 And now that reftlefs thou doft rove, 
 
 And with fad note repine, 
 Think not, lorn mourner, that I prove 
 
 A pang lefs keen than thine. 
 
 Ah, bafe were he, whofe hand could ftain 
 
 Fair hofpitality, 
 With act fo foul as thus to pain 
 
 An harmlefs gueft like thee. 
 
 Purfue me not from fpray to fpray : 
 
 How fhall I teach my tongue 
 Some found that may to thee convey, 
 
 I did not do the wrong ? 
 
 Oh, that I knew, fweet innocent, 
 
 The language of thy kind ; 
 Or could fome lucid fign invent, 
 
 Fitting thy feeble mind ! 
 
 This fpot indignant do not quit; 
 
 Thy confidence replace ; 
 And here with generous truft commit, 
 
 Once more, thy tender race. 
 L
 
 I 4 6 MISCELLANIES' 
 
 For here thy young have oft before 
 
 Securely fpread the wing : 
 Oh grant my (hades one trial more, 
 
 Here pafs one other fpring. 
 
 Meanwhile this comfort I will take, 
 Not long thy woes (hall lafl : 
 
 All hearts but man's foon ceafe to ache : 
 Thy griefs (hall foon be paft. 
 
 For him, whofe hand hath broke thy reft 3 
 Be this his curfe through life ; 
 
 A mind, by the mild mufe unbleft, 
 Bafe care and vulgar ftrife.
 
 LOUISA. 
 
 LOUISA, 
 
 A SONG. 
 
 As with Louifa late I fat, 
 
 In yonder fecret grove, 
 How fondly did each bofom beat, 
 
 And pour its tale of love ! 
 
 Eve's tuneful bird, with fweeteft lay, 
 Infpir'd the tranquil place : 
 
 Eve's filver ftar, with pureft ray, 
 Beam'd on the chafte embrace. 
 
 But now the tender fcene is o'er, 
 What tongue my grief can tell? 
 
 In yonder grove I meet no more 
 The maid I love fo well ! 
 
 Yet (till, at evening's cuftoifc'd hour, 
 With feelings fadly fweet, 
 
 I feek, in Love's forfaken bower, 
 My folitary feat. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 There Philomela's tuneful tongue 
 
 Still fooths my penfive ear : 
 Ah ! 'tis the fame melodious fong 
 
 Louifa lov'd to hear ! 
 
 And flill I joy to mark, the while, 
 
 The ftar of Venus (hine ; 
 Which faw the blufti, the tear, the fmile, 
 
 That fpoke Louifa mine'! 
 
 Her dear idea finely tied 
 
 To each lov'd object there, 
 I flill behold her at my fide, 
 
 And clafp the ihadowy fair.
 
 TO THE SUN, 149 * 
 
 TO THE SUN. 
 
 A FRAGMENT. 
 Written in the Spring. 
 
 THOU dazzling ball ! vaft univerfe of flame ! 
 Idol fublime ! Error's mod glorious god ! 
 Whofe peerlefs fplendours plead in the excufe 
 Of him that worfhips thee, and (hine away 
 The fin of pagan knees ! whofe awful orb, 
 Though Truth informs my more enlightened creed , 
 Almoft entices my o'er-ravifhed heart 
 To turn idolator, and tempts my mouth 
 To kifs my hand before thee. Nature's pride ! 
 Of matter moft magnificent difplay ! 
 Bright mafterpiece of dread Omnipotence ! 
 Ocean of fplendour ! wond'rous world of light ! 
 Thy fweet return my kindled lays falute. 
 
 Hail, amiable vifion ! every eye 
 Looks up and loves thee ; every tongue proclaims, 
 L 3
 
 I^O MISCELLANIES. 
 
 'Tis pleafant to behold thee ; rofy Health, 
 
 And laughing Joy, thy beauteous daughters, play 
 
 Before thy face for ever, and rejoice 
 
 In thine indulgent ray. Nature mourns 
 
 Thine annual departure ; in defpair, 
 
 Like one forfaken by her love, (he fits, 
 
 And tears from off her all her gay attire, 
 
 And drowns her face in tears, and languid lies, 
 
 As if of life devoid : but lo, fhe lives ! 
 
 She lives again ! her glorious rover comes, 
 
 To wake her from her lethargy of woe, 
 
 And warm her into beauty with his fmile. 
 
 Fountain of infpiration ! fir'd by thee, 
 Imagination's facred tumults rife, 
 And pour upon the fair, immortal page, 
 The fplendid image and the burning word ! 
 Oh hallow 'd hour ! o'erflowing with delight ! 
 Moments of more than earthly ecftafy ! 
 When the bleft bard, panting beneath thy rays, 
 Feels the fine rapture filently infus'd 
 Into his agitated breaft ; and full 
 Of his bright god, with lofty fury raves, 
 Celeftially difturb'd ' till the ftrong flames, 
 6
 
 TO THE SUN. I^I 
 
 That his whole foul to heavenly madnefs heat, 
 Have fpent their blaze in all the rage of fong ! 
 
 Great Conflagration ! whofe immortal fires, 
 With myftic, everlafting fewel fed, 
 Flame with a generous fury, flame to fpread 
 Far other fcene than fmoaking ruin round, 
 Fair flowers and fmiling verdure, fields that wave 
 With yellow wealth, and boughs that (loop beneath 
 Their blufhing load, with affluence oppreft ' 
 
 Great Father of the fyftetn ! round whofe 
 
 throne, 
 
 In filial circles all thy children fhine, 
 Exulting in thy kind, paternal fmile ! 
 Well-order'd family ! for ever free 
 From jarring ftrife; harmonious moving on 
 In eafy dance ; and calling human Life 
 To lift the mufic of your filent glide, 
 And make its focial fyftem chime like yours. 
 Preceptors fweet of concert and of love ! 
 Had but this noify fcene an ear to learn. 
 
 Or is thy name, The Student's facred Lamp, 
 L 4
 
 1^2 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Hung up on high, and trimm'd by Heaven's own 
 
 hand? 
 
 By whofe pure light, more precious to his eye, 
 Than that which trembles on his nightly page, 
 (Man's puny tome,) with fllent joy he reads 
 The broad, inltrudtive fheet, which thou haft held, 
 All wife Inftrutor ! to thy pupil man, 
 Through every age. Invaluable book ! 
 In fchools unrival'd, though but little read ! 
 Fair, faultlefs piece ! immortal work of Heaven ! 
 Bible of ages ! boundlefs word of God ! 
 Writ in a language to all nations known ; 
 And, through all time, with care divine, preferv'd 
 From all corrupt interpolations pure. 
 
 Or art thou Nature's Eye, to whofe keen fight 
 
 The fyftem's utmoft circle naked lies? 
 
 Oh, tell a curious mortal all thou feeft ! 
 Say, by what various beings tenanted, 
 The orbs that borrow thy refulgent blaze ; 
 Made of what matter ; moulded to what form ; 
 Bleft with what organs ; with what minds inform 'd ; 
 SpurrVlby what paffions; on what arts intent; 
 Eager in what purfuits; and by what ties
 
 TO THE SUN. 153 
 
 Combin'd : Oh, fay, all-fearching Radiance, fay, 
 (For doubtlefs moral and immortal all,) 
 Taught by what difcipline the generous love 
 Of beauteous Virtue ; to what duties call'd; 
 By what temptations urg'd to aft thofe deeds 
 Which ftain thy day, and by what motives fir'd, 
 With moral fplendours, to outfliine thy beams. 
 Say, radiant Witnefs, if around thee move 
 A world, on whofe o'erwatching angels' cheek 
 There rolls a tear fo fad, there glows a blufli 
 Of hue fo deep, as our dark fcene hath cau's'd 
 In the griev'd Seraph, who this circling earth 
 Wheels in her courfe, and with his guardian wing 
 O'erlhades from ill ? All-feeing Splendour, tell, 
 In any other globe that drinks thy rays, 
 Swerves moral life, as here it fwerves, from right ? 
 Fall elfewhere thy pure beams, as here they fall, 
 On fcenes whofe colours will not bear the light? 
 Seeft thou, in other feats of being, Fraud, 
 Induflrious deceiver, fpinning fine 
 Her artful web of complicated lines, 
 To catch Simplicity's unheedful wing ? 
 Or meet thy view th' oppreflive and th' proud, 
 Who on their fellows look contemptuous down,
 
 1^4 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 And o'er them walk, as reptiles in their path ? 
 
 Or opens, (hock'd, thy mild, and morning eye 
 
 Upon the mangled lifelefs fnrine that lodg'd 
 
 God's holy likenefs, an immortal mind, 
 
 That for this violation loud arraigns 
 
 One, in the fame celeftial image fram'd, 
 
 Who, (foul abufer of the friendly gloom 
 
 Thy feafonable ahfence kindly made, 
 
 To cheer, by freshening flops, the race of life,) 
 
 Glid to the fleeper's couch, and feal'd his eyes 
 
 In everlafting {lumbers ; while his own 
 
 Abhorr'd thy rife, and deem'd the blaming eaft 
 
 Lurid and gloomy as the (hades of death ? 
 
 Or ftalks the murderer forth, and braves the day, 
 
 As in our theatre of ills he flalks, 
 
 With fwarms of dire accomplices colleagued, 
 
 Countlefs as locufts in their blacked cloud, 
 
 Of reafoning vermin an o'erwhelming plague ! 
 
 Molt noxious clafs of all deftrudtive things I 
 
 To whofe vaft rage, and arch malignity, 
 
 The living curfes torrid Afric breeds, 
 
 Where quicken'd venom breathes, and monfters 
 
 thrive, 
 Are nature's innocence, and golden reign !
 
 TO THE SUN. 155 
 
 Artifts in mifchief ! keen inventive pefts ! 
 Before whom all the blooming lanclfcape fmiles, 
 (Ah, vainly fmiles, their fury to difarm !) 
 While nought but dreary wafte behind them 
 
 glooms, 
 
 The difmal veflige of their withering courfe? 
 Or ftands our haplefs planet all alone 
 And fmgular in folly ? only ftar, 
 Of all thy beams illumine, where thy lamp 
 Rifes to light the ugly works of Vice, 
 Or fets to veil them from Detection's eye? 
 Eccentric orb, in whofe wild fcene alone, 
 The beams of intellectual radiance fhine, 
 And fliine not all benignly like thine own ? 
 
 Or wilt thou tell, of thy revolving fpheres, 
 Which wears the bays of genius? whofe quick fons 
 Have fliot, with fartheft wing, into the field 
 Of Nature's works ; or moft fublimely foar'd, 
 On eagle pinions, to that Parent-Sun, 
 At whofe eternal glories thine were lit ? 
 Say, haft thou feen a creature's cornpafs take 
 An ampler fvveep over the dread immenfe, 
 Than that which turned obedient to the hand
 
 156 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Of him we NEWTON name, our earth's proud 
 
 boaft ? 
 
 Or, in which world of this our neighbourhood, 
 Hath there been wav'd a wand of mightier call 
 Tkin our renown'd, immortal SH AKESPE AR mov'd 
 O'er Nothing's vafl profound, and faid, Let be, 
 And, lo, it was ! lo, a bright univerfe 
 Of great and fair, of tranfports, and of woes, 
 And charming fears ! in bards or fages, fay, 
 Which is the ball that bears away the prize ?
 
 TO A CANARY BIRD. 157 
 
 ON LEAVING A FAVOURITE CANARY BIRD 
 WHICH THE AUTHOR KEPT AT COLLEGE. 
 
 MUST thou, fweetbird, no more thy matter cheer? 
 No more fhall I thine artlefs chantings hear f 
 Oh fkill'd in mufk's pure flmplicity ! 
 How have my tranquil hours been bleft by thee! 
 When tir'd with efforts of laborious thought, 
 Sooth 'd were my languors by thy fprightly note : 
 When borne on Poefy's fwift-failing wing, 
 To fome fair fcene, all paradife and fpring, 
 Liftening to thee, I felt the fcene more fair, 
 And with a wilder tranfport wander 'd there : 
 When (by dark, threat'ning clouds a captive 
 
 made) 
 
 I figh'd for vernal fcene, and vocal "lhade, 
 While thy domeftic warblings chas'd my fpleen, 
 I mifs'd nor vocal {hade, nor vernal fcene. 
 Each day I liften'd to thy varied fong, 
 Pleas'd with the labours of thy little tongue : 
 Sweet was thy fong, when morning fhed its ray ; 
 Sweet was thy fong, when evening clos'd the day.
 
 1^8 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 When care opprefs'd me, thou could'ft bid it flee ; 
 When friends were far, I found a friend in tliee. 
 The moft melodious dweller in the grove, 
 Ne'er told in notes fo foft its artlefs love. 
 Well knows the clear-ton'd blackbird how to fing, 
 And with- fweet founds to hail the welcome fpring; 
 Charm'd with the long, the filent fwain the while, 
 Leans on his ftaff, and liftens with a fmile ; 
 Yet muft the jetty fongfter's fxveeteft note 
 Yield to the ftrains that tremble in thy throat ! 
 Oft have I mark'd the adtive Iky-lark rife, 
 On foaring wings, ambitious of the fkies ; 
 Oft have I flood the afcending fong to hear, 
 Till the loft fongiter leflen'd into air : 
 Much have I prais'd the lively melody 
 But more I prize the notes that flow from thee ! 
 When the fall'n fun but faintly flreaks the fky, 
 And fofter colours footh the penfive eye - } 
 The plaining chantrefs of the night I love, 
 Warbling her fadnefs to the filent grove : 
 Thro' the calm air the lone mellifluous fong 
 Pours its full tide of harmony along : 
 Low it begins, while all is hufli'd around, 
 And gently deals from filence into fou.:J :
 
 TO A CANARY BIRD. 159 
 
 With gradual rife afcends the fkilful lay, 
 Prolongs the liquid ivvell, and flovvly melts away. 
 Sweet is the ftrain, as Hammond's tender line; 
 Dear is the fong but not fo dear as thine * ! 
 
 Yet ere I go, this honeft figh receive ! 
 'Tis all thy parting matter has to give. 
 Oh ! as thy laft, be thy next owner kind ! 
 Give him, benignant Heaven, a gentle mind! 
 Each day, with punctual hand, let him beftow 
 Whate'er of blifs thy little breafl can know ; 
 Thy cheap and fimple pleafures ne'er forget, 
 And ftrive to make thy captive moments fvveet. 
 So may kind ftars on all his wirties fhine ! 
 Calm be his breaft, fweet fongfter, calm as thine! 
 
 * The author hopes the reader will not fufpcft him of fo ill a 
 tafte, even at that juvenile age when this trifle was written, as to 
 have preferred the note of a Canary bird to the fong of the Nightin- 
 gale ; but will look upon this humble tribute of praife to fo humble 
 a fubjccl: as flowing from partial attachment to an individual of the 
 fpecies which its fociety had endeared to him : a feeling, to which 
 indulgence is as due, as to that local or oerfonal fondnefs, which lea<ls 
 us to afcribe beauties to fcenes of nature amid whic we have paffed 
 delightful years, or excellencies to characters with whom we have 
 Jong maintained an intercourfe of l^indnefs, which no eyes but <}ur 
 own are able to difcover.
 
 1 o 
 
 Flow all his hours like thy melodious lay ; 
 Smooth and harmonious, let ? em glide away. 
 Till at the laft his kindred foul fhall fly, 
 Where the feraphic minftrels of the fky 
 Sweep from their filver wires immortal harmony. J 
 
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 TO A ROBIN. 
 
 TO A ROBIN 
 
 FRIGHTENED FROM ITS NEST BY THE 
 
 AUTHOR'S APPROACH. 
 
 t OND, timid creature ! fear not me ; 
 
 Think not I mean to injure thee ; 
 
 I am not come with hard intent, 
 
 To Heal the treafure Heaven hath fent j 
 
 Hovering with fond anxiety 
 
 Around thine unfledg'd family, 
 
 Fearful and tender as thou art, 
 
 Each ftep alarms thy failing heart ! 
 
 But let thofe fluttering plumes lie ftill, 
 
 Thofe needlefs terrors ceafe to feel ! 
 
 Why hop fo faft from bough to bough? v ad..#i,' 
 
 Thou hear'ft no hoftile footftep now. 
 
 Compofe thy feathers, eafe thy fear, 
 
 No cruel purpofe brought me here ; 
 
 I came not rudely to invade 
 
 The little dwelling thou hsft made ; 
 
 To hurt thy fair domeftic peace, 
 
 And wound parental tendernefs, 
 
 M
 
 l62 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Perifh the hand, th' ungentle hand, 
 That againft Nature's loud command. 
 Thine humble pleafures could moleft, 
 And pierce fo innocent a breaft. 
 And doubly curft, fweet red-breaft, he 
 That fteals thine helplefs young from thee. 
 When cheerlefs, wintry fcenes appear, 
 Thy fprightly fong well-pleas'd we hear ; 
 And he that robs thee of thy young 
 But ill repays that fprightly fong. 
 Kind Heaven protect thy tender brood ! 
 Secret and fafe be their abode ; 
 Let no malign, exploring eye 
 The little tenement defcry. 
 Still may thy fond, affiduous care 
 Thine offspring unmolefled rear : 
 Teach them, like thee, to fpread the wing. 
 And teach them too, like thee, to fmg. 
 And may each pure felicity 
 That birds can feel, be -felt by thee. 
 When gloomy winter fhall appear, 
 And clouds deform the weeping year ; 
 When cold thy little frame fhall chill, 
 And piercing hunger thou fhalt feel ;
 
 TO A ROBIN*. 163 
 
 Then from each rude tempeftuous wind 
 Some genial flicker may'ft thou find ; 
 Some gentle manfion let thee come, 
 And peck the hofpitable crumb ; 
 Till fpring once more revive the plain, 
 And bid thee frame thy neft again, 
 
 M 2
 
 AN ODE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 COMMEMORATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FRENCH REVOLUTION, 
 
 CHAMP DE MARS, 
 
 JULY J4, 1793. 

 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 THE reader is defired, in perufing the following ode, to keep the 
 date of it in his eye ; that he may not imagine that that unmo- 
 derated admiration of the French Revolution, which runs through 
 it, extends to any of the transactions by which the caufe of liberty 
 in France wa*s afterwards difgraced. He is requefted to remember, 
 that it was written at a moment when the fubject of its praife was 
 as yet a fair and unfpolted event : when the friend of humanity 
 contemplated in the French Nation, the beautiful fpedtacle of an 
 innumerable and unanimous family, exulting in the new poffeflion 
 ef liberty, calmly refolving to relinquilh it but with life, and 
 adorning the grandeur of heroic refolution with the amiable fmiles 
 of fraternal amity : and as little fufpected that its honour was to 
 be ftaioed by members of its own, as that its caufe was to be op- 
 pofed by a People, which had long infulted the flavery of Europe 
 by the loudnefs of its boafts of freedom. 
 
 To enable the reader the more readily to underftand this poem, 
 it will be proper to inform him, that, the ordinary folemnity in 
 the CHAMP DE MARS was preceded, on the day which thefe lines 
 particularly celebrate, by the additional ceremony of laying the firft 
 flone of a free fchool, which was at that time intended to be erect- 
 ed, on the ground where the BASTILLE ftood; in order that the 
 principles of liberty might be inculcated, on the very fpot where 
 they had been moft outrageoufly violated. The place was gaily 
 decorated for the occafion, and formed a ftriking contra ft to the 
 images of horror, of which it had been fo lately the feat. With 
 this previous ceremony the poem commences, and then proceeds 
 to the other, and principal one. At each of them the author was 
 ^refent;. and the fentiments, which he exprefles in this perform- 
 ance, are precifely thofe which the fcene immediately excited. In 
 writing it, he had only to recollect the emotions of the day. The 
 Ipectacle was his Mufe, and the calling it up to the eye of his 
 imagination has been the only invocation he ha> exercifed.
 
 ODE ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 167 
 
 AN ODE 
 
 ON THE I4TH OF JULY, I7Q2. 
 
 'Tis come at length, the tardy light is come : 
 Long, vainly rolling o'er the lingering gloom, 
 Thefe fleeplefs eyes have waited for the morn : 
 .Welcome, bright orb ! exulting, I behold 
 Thy boundlefs Tea of flowing gold, 
 Unfullied by a cloud, this facred day adorn ! 
 Foul fcenes there are thine eye that fear ; 
 This work thy fulleft look will bear : 
 For fmce thy fount of all-exploring light 
 Sent forth its firft-effufed and virgin ftream, 
 Startling the fhades of old eftablifli'd night, 
 Ne'er on a fcene fo fair hath fallen thy lovely beam! 
 
 n. 
 
 Lo ! to the fmiles of Nature new, 
 Yon fpot, but late revealed to view, 
 In gloom myfterious long that awful lay, 
 While he that pafs'd it, droop'd and trembled by, 
 M. 4
 
 l63 MISCELLANIES, 
 
 In florid pomp, on this her feftive day, 
 
 Firft meets the laughing eye of gay Philanthropy f 
 
 in. 
 
 Hail ! refcued ground ! thy groans are o'er : 
 Reliev'd at length is thy long-loaded breaft 
 Of the dire burden it impatient bore, 
 The huge, enormous manfiofi of the oppreft f 
 Fallen is that many-chamber'd tomb, 
 Where, plung'd in deep, fepulchral gloom, 
 Buried for ever from the eye of day, 
 Remov'd from action's bufy fphere, 
 Dead to each bread that held them dear, 
 And loft to all the world, the living lay : 
 Retaining confcious nature but to know, 
 That all 'tis foothing to perceive was fled ! 
 Whofe lamp of mind but flung its light to (how 
 How drear the grave which wrapt them in its fliadef 
 Oh Death f how fmile thy cavern's beauteous 
 
 glooms, 
 
 To the grim n-ight of thofe tremendous rooms, 
 Where widowed life, of all its joys bereft, 
 Health's genial glow and Hope's inferring beam, "
 
 ODE ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 169 
 
 Purfuit's fweet toil, and Friend/hip's fparkling eye, 
 Had but a languid pulfe, to mark it, left ; 
 A power to think, with mifery for the theme ; 
 And breath, that all was fpent in one eternal figh ! 
 
 IV. 
 
 There, dark and dank, the fiend Impurity, 
 That flies the fun, and hates the breezy fky, 
 Beneath her flimy wing outfpread, 
 Which frightful vital influence fhed, 
 Of crawling life hatch'd her detefted brood ; 
 To render dire th' already joylefs gloom, 
 And Horror bring, where Comfort could not comet 
 Freezing the heart, much craving to be cheer'd, 
 Of him that long no friendly voice had heard, 
 Nor gladdening fmile of bland affection feen ; 
 For many a year of creeping moments made, 
 Whofe fociral breaft had hopelefs pin'd 
 For dear communion with its abfent kind ; . 
 And, hungry, famiih'd for fociety, 
 Could have its keen affections fed 
 E'en with a poor familiar fly, 
 But fhuddering loath'd the animal obfcerre, 
 The moving Foulnefs, that had life unclean ! 
 7
 
 ifo MISCELLANIES. 
 
 V. ,'**?;; 
 
 *Tis down, and millions fhout the deed; 
 The wall that dreadful fecrets hid ! 
 Loud be the trump of victory blown, 
 The houfe where Anguifli dwelt is down ! 
 That unfeen world, fo long conceal'd, 
 Righteous Vengeance has reveal'd ! 
 The mafly-curtain'd myftery 
 Shuts but no more the curious eye : 
 The ftony veil is rent away, 
 And all the fcenes o'errun with Day : 
 Before refiftlefs Valour's eyes 
 The naked hell uncovered lies ! 
 See, the gay, detected ground, 
 Fairly clad, as bravely found ! 
 Hence, the place fo long that held 1 , 
 The hags of Horror are expell'd ! 
 Flown as if they ne'er had been ! 
 And lo ! the new, the alter'd fcene ' 
 Where faint and languid tlghs alone 
 Were all the founds for ages known, 
 Feverifli breath of fick Defpair 
 That fee'/ly mov'd the ftagnant air, 
 8
 
 ODE ON THfc FRENCH REVOLUTION. 171 
 
 Hark ! the fliouts of tranfport rife ! 
 And boillerous pecans rend the ikies !" 
 See faireft Powers the feat poflefiing, 
 And with fweeteft influence bleffing ! 
 Lo, the long excluded Air, 
 With her pureft breeze is there ! 
 Where iron lattice grudg'd the day^ 
 And dealt the wretch a (tinted ray, 
 All her .affluence Light difplays, 
 Her fullefl luxury of blaze ! 
 Health ! thy animated rofe 
 In a throng of faces glows ! 
 And Flora has her tribute brought, 
 To deck, with blooming grace, the fpot j 
 And Fancy's hand the gift receives, 
 And weaves in artful forms the leaves ; 
 Her pleafing {kill combines a feftive fcene, 
 With flowers of warm eft blufh, and boughs of 
 livelieft green ! 
 
 VI. 
 
 Immortal glory mark the fplendid hour, 
 That prov'd o'er Vice almighty Virtue's power I
 
 1^2 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Long the proud turrets brav'd the wrath of Heaven; 
 Spar'd by the pafling dorm, they ftood uncleft, 
 By man's red juftice fated to be riven ; 
 The fkies to earth this glorious tempeft left ! 
 A people's rous'd omnipotence arofe; 
 Bar'd the right arm that awes its impious foes ; 
 Then, at the guilty walls the thunder threw : 
 Endur'd, how long they ftood, fhall Hiftory tell ; 
 The fleep of Patience o'er, how foon they fell, 
 When, launch'd by public Zeal, the vengeful 
 light'nings flew ! 
 
 VII. 
 
 No more from this once hated place, 
 Offended Freedom, {halt thou turn thy face ! 
 Here (hall thine altar, injur'd queen, arife, 
 And woo this way thy long-averted eyes ! 
 Oh, hither bend thy kind, relenting fight ! 
 Regard the fuppliant train, th' atoning rite ! 
 The folemn invocation, Freedom, hear, 
 And yield thee to a people's forceful prayer ! 
 Oh, enter, Goddefs, enter to thy reft, 
 Mount thy firm throne in Gallia's ardent breaft.
 
 ODE ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. I 7 3 
 
 This juft reverfe hath happier! Wifdom plan'd, 
 Where flood the tyrant's tower, fhould thy fair 
 
 temple ftand : 
 
 Where giant Vice rear'd high his monftroushead, 
 In virtue's fchool young Innocence {hall grow; 
 Where wan Defpair faw life's bright profpects fade, 
 " Gay Hope" in youth's romantic breaft fhall 
 
 glow. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 For thy fall'n altars, Freedom, leave to figh : 
 New-lighted flames adore thy deity. 
 No more that ground, with fad attention, view, 
 Which matchlefs Art's proftrated wonders drew j 
 Where Time his proudeft a<5t hath done, 
 And moft majeftic things o'erthrown : 
 Where, round him fpread, a glorious prey, 
 Slow melts magnificence away : 
 And where, as (tern in gloomy ftate he reigns, 
 And counts, with widefurvey, his crumbling piles, 
 Towers, theatres, and palaces, and fanes, 
 And on the fra&ur'd pomp and ragged grandeur
 
 1^4 MJSCELLANIES. 
 
 The firen Luxury fits exulting by, 
 FlufhM with her yet more fplendid victory 
 O'er the fall'n mind, which ihe fo low hath Iai4 ! 
 Thofe moral columns all decayed, 
 That held aloft its towering head, 
 And prop'd the high afpiring deed ! 
 And much it fooths her gliftening eye, 
 To fee that noble frame in ruins lie, 
 "Whofe fubftancc only {he could penetrate ; 
 That proudly had defied all other fate, 
 And lifted ftill its top fublime, 
 Intangible to eating Time. 
 Then claps the beauteous witch her wings, 
 And, with a laugh of triumph, tells 
 The bearded vilor of all meaner things, 
 In ruin's work how far her note his fcythe ex- 
 cels ! 
 
 IX. 
 
 Avert from thence, and wipe thine eye, 
 Thy facred forrows, Goddefs, dry, 
 Nor more with hoary Tiber mourn, 
 Survivor of thy vaniuYd fons,
 
 ODE ON THE FRENCH 'REVOLUTION. I^r 
 
 Who hangs dejected o'er his urn. 
 
 Companion of a mother's moans ! 
 
 Nor weep, Hiffus' lucid wave 
 
 Mufl feats of languid dulnefs lave; 
 
 And the lorn filver flow along, 
 
 Forfook of fcience and of fong. 
 
 Nor grieve, Meander, wreathes his way, 
 
 Unfung his amber's fweet delay : 
 
 LO ! laughing Seine confoles thy care ; 
 
 No mortal honpurs wait thee there: 
 
 On thofe bleft fhores thy flame (hall glow, 
 
 Long as the endlefs dream (hall flow, 
 
 If, ne'er to be recal'd, the facred word, 
 
 Forth from His mouth that went, aright I heard, 
 
 Jufl Heaven hath fworn his waters ne'er again 
 
 Shall wafh a haughty tyrant's drear domain. 
 
 x. 
 
 " They {hall not" the refounding tribes re- 
 pair, 
 
 To yon vaft plain, with one loud voice, to fwear. 
 Behold the brave, the kindling thoufands met ! 
 The mingling breads with patriot ardours beat !
 
 176 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 As o'er this ample and thick-peopled fpace, 
 That feems to hold th' afiembled human race, 
 She ftvives to flretch her eager, aching eye, 
 High leaps the heart of bleft Humanity ; 
 With more than mortal joy her bofom heaves; 
 In-ruthing heaven her labouring foul receives ; 
 Oppreft ihe trembles with the blifs divine, 
 Rapt, Freedom, by the thought, this wond'rous 
 throng is thine ! 
 
 X XI. 
 
 Hark ! filence ne'er was broke 
 'By fuch a found before ' 
 
 In that fwol'n voice, each awe-ftruck frame that 
 ihook, 
 
 A NATION fpoke a NATION fwore ! 
 
 Mighty and marvellous, her voice 
 Up to high heaven makes a majeflic noife ! 
 Th' embodied breath of myriads beats the ear, 
 That fcarce the airy onfet knows to bear ! 
 Refponrlve cannon join the deaf 'ning flroke, -aa.. 
 Whofe blows fublime complete the glorious 
 fhock J
 
 ODE ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 177 
 
 So grand the caufe, 'tis meet who nobly dare 
 Thus give the gods their word, in thunder fwear ! 
 Heroic oath ! the brave that beft becomes! 
 Their foes to foul defeat that dooms ; 
 The oath that binds them to be free : 
 Sounds ! that turn the oppreffor pale ; 
 His hope that crufh, his heart that quail ; 
 Sounds ! that prevail to bring down Victory : 
 Pulled by their magic call, compelled defcend 
 The Goddefs of the palm, and the flrong fpell at- 
 tends. 
 
 XII'. 
 
 Defpots ! ye are overcome ! 
 Thofe mighty words pronounced your doom. 
 Thought ye, the marching things ye move, 
 Prick'd by nor generous hate nor love, 
 Could 'gainft the animated band 
 Of MINDS that ru(h to meet them ftand ? 
 'Tis not the fmew vigour gives ; , 
 
 'Tis the foul that in it lives : 
 Or dreamt ye, the dull valour's thoughtlefc fires, 
 A fenfelefs plant's fermented juice infpires, 
 N
 
 1^8 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 (Oh, all unleamM ih Nature's holy laws !) 
 Could their high frenzy match, whofe cordial is 
 their caufe ! 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Hail, then, virtuous convocation ! 
 Wifely met, illumined nation ! 
 Convened to frame th* undaunted mind 
 That dares defy the world combined ; 
 To feed, with glowing rites and high, 
 The Lion of your liberty ; 
 Inftruted well that brave RESOLVE is POWER, 
 And 'tis the ftrong-built foul that forms your 
 
 mightieft tower. 
 
 Thus, whether your or hoftile arms ftiall fpeed, 
 Yourfelves, to day, fublimely have decreed : 
 Your own ftrong fates, almighty men ! ye make, 
 Nor leave in Fortune's hand fo rich a ftake. 
 Scorning to wait her blind capricious fmile, 
 And humbly wifli, and meekly hope the while, 
 The tame fufpenfe your fpirit not endures: 
 Victory, with voice imperious, it demands ; 
 Seizes with violent and lufty hands,
 
 ODE ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 179 
 
 And glorioufly forces to be yours ! 
 
 This flame, O Gallia, while thy fons poflefs, 
 
 Thy caufe omnipotent COMMANDS fuccefs: 
 
 Souls, thus infpired, (hall mock at fteel ; 
 
 Thou canft not fall, while thus they feel: 
 
 Long as that fpring is in their bread, 
 
 The fpring that WILL NOT be oppreft ; 
 
 That under all th' incumbent weight, 
 
 A hoftile world's confederate great 
 
 Can on th' elaftic zeal high piling lay, 
 
 Hath power to uplift itfelf, and tofs the load away! 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Oh Brutus ! with how clear and changed a brow, 
 " If thy brave fpirit look upon us now," 
 From that thou wor'ft, all clouded o'er, 
 In conquer'd Virtue's adverfe hour, 
 Doft thou this bright reverfe furvey, 
 And hail her victory's holiday ! 
 A light o'er human life that flings, 
 Illumes the helm of human things, 
 Vacant that feemed to thy defpair, 
 And (hews the righteous PILOT there. 
 'Tis come at length, the age ordain'd to fee 
 N 2,
 
 $P ,KOITUJO .MISCELLANIES^ KO aero 
 No longer loft the patriot toi^sl oy d^ira! iA 
 Fair aft and fair event agree* ,<j jjorfW 
 
 And on one caufe the Gods and Cato fmilc, ^fTjT 
 a:o asnorg ^jnr.s -uW 
 
 2 art? zsvfc 7 ? ^qu2 
 
 Nation ! for pomp renown'd ! 'tis now 
 A tafte correcl: and rais'd ye ftiow. 
 Oft, in your fanes, th' admiring eye -cno'J 
 
 Hath gaz'd your fcenic piety : 
 Beheld the harlot Error there, 
 With painted charms and flowery veft, 
 Seduce th' enamour'd mind to own her fair, bnA 
 And, with unholy love pofleft, 
 Deluded Reafon captive led, 
 By Heav'n of old betroth'd with modeft Truth to 
 
 wed^i fi rtt otO 
 Oft hath the ftranger's fond amaze 
 Fed on your court's imperial blaze ; ^rf' J[ 
 
 Where Rank's mofl dazzling circle fhone ^ ^Q 
 Round Europe's moil refulgent throne ; 
 
 Luxuriant fhow ! profufely bright ! ^ J3 j 
 
 All gay with wantonnefs of light, 9 /nJ 2 
 In fplendours rich, and lufcious to the fight j .j, HA 
 
 ' tw> lid rtjswisd <r-woft ycg tn-
 
 ODE ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. iSl 
 
 At length your land a fcene fupplies, 
 Whofe beauties charm judicious eyes : 
 The Nation's felf ih'ftate is fhown, 
 With all her blazing glories on. 
 Superb in multitude (he awes the eye ! 
 The pomp of numbers forms her majefty ! 
 Her fons, aflembled in a fwarm immenfe, 
 Compofe her plain, fublime magnificence ! 
 As the fam'd Roman mother, greatly good, 
 Her children, as her jewels, proudly fhow'd, 
 Gallia her fons her brighteft honours deems, 
 And gathers round her all her countlefs gems ! 
 Pomp, that derides the tiny royalty, 
 Made up of cufhion and of canopy, 
 Of pall and fcepter'd hand and cindur'd brow, 
 Of ore that glitters and of ftones that glow, 
 That e'er e'en in the gem'd and gorgeous eaft, 
 The worftiip'd one, the puny unit drefs'd. 
 Deck him now, Art, and, in his proud array, 
 Bloom all thy beauties, all thy glories play ! 
 Let fparklmg pebbles and embroider'd dies 
 Strive with th' enamel 'd mead and fpangled fkies ! 
 All the mine's little ftars around him meet i 
 Spring all the loom's gay flowers beneath his feet !
 
 l8l( MISCELLANIES. 
 
 The fweep of robe and fwell of drapery, 
 Attempt his pigmy form to magnify ! 
 fhe throne's fmall rife fupply his lack of height, 
 Elate the child and pleafe the children's fight ; 
 And bafe proftration's trick mean bondmen try, 
 To make a head as low as theirs look high : 
 THIS glory laughs at all the puppet- ftate, 
 And feoffs the fairy toil to make minutenefs great. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Well to this living grandeur have ye join'd 
 Stupendous rites that fwell the mind I 
 *Tls fit a caufe fupremely fair 
 Befeeming circumftance adorn ; 
 That beauteous Good fhould nobler honours wear 
 Than e'er uncomely HI hath worn : 
 Now, loft no more its decent grace, 
 Ornament hath found its place : 
 'Tis well thus highly ye have wrought 
 This day's unmatched folemnity, 
 ( When reafon's tranfports, born of thought, 
 With thine, enraptur'd vifion, vie !) 
 That ne'er before the gliftening fight 
 From fcenery drank fuch vaft delight : 
 6
 
 ODE ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 183 
 
 That ne'er, fmce homaged crowns were worn, 
 Or on the day, or on its round return, 
 When kings firft faw the light, or fill'd the throne, 
 Such pomp of blifs on any coaft was fliown, 
 As thefe proud rites of happinefs difplay; 
 To grace the hour when Liberty was born, 
 And with high joy's exalted figns adorn 
 A mighty People's coronation-day.
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 
 A POEM. 
 
 Lady. Out, damn'd fpot, out, I fay 
 
 Here's the fmeU 
 
 of the blood ftill : all the perfumes of Arabia will not Iweeten this 
 .little hand. Oh, oh, oh. 
 
 DoQ. What a figh is there ! the heart is forely charged. 
 
 MACBETH. 
 
 This Poem (formerly entitled, The Art of War) and the two 
 following, have already appeared in feparate publications. 
 
 O 2
 
 
 Wjft A 
 * ?ri? ri:, 
 
 t i; ."'i / .'" 
 dj:;iw !^ 
 -''Cv 
 O
 
 z UTILISED WAR. 
 
 - LlFE, thou ftrange thing ! That haft a power to 
 
 feel 
 
 Thou art, and to perceive that others are ! 
 Molt curtain'd fecret ! whofe thick veil of {hade 
 Baffles our reafoii's vainly ftruggling light ! 
 Thou bufy myftery ! curious mechanifm ! 
 That canft or move or ftop as choice ordains ! 
 Whofe fpring is fpirit, and whofe aclion, will I 
 Warm confcious wax, on which all paffing things, 
 A flow of feals, fuccefllve imprefs make 
 Of pleafure or of pain ! imperial mark, 
 By which the frame almighty hands combin'd, 
 Is known from moving fyftems fram'd by man ! 
 Unrival'd work ! which all the fons of {kill, 
 From every land conven'd, could ne'er, with all 
 3
 
 l88 CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 Their hand's united cunning, emulate! 
 Invention all divine ! In the dull worrn 
 More brilliant workmanftiip, than all the domes 
 Full fwelling, and with ftatelieft columns proud, 
 And all the labour'd engines, human Craft 
 Hath e'er conftru&ed ! Jf I find thy throb, 
 Thou falient wonder ! in the meaneft thing, 
 Viaim of Cuftom's tread, ere I put forth' ' 
 My power to flop thy beats, my foul is feiz'd 
 With a reftri&ive awe, that bids me hold 
 And aflts we, ere I end, what I with cafe 
 Can end, but not with all my power renew, 
 If what is urg'd as reafon for the aft, 
 
 Will juftify th' infliaion of my foot. 2<: 
 
 * A 
 
 
 Pufh'd by what demon is the hand, that dares 
 To quench thy flame, where the all-quick'ning 
 
 breath 
 
 Hath up to reafon blown it ? where thy fire 
 Hath power to mount to virtue's glorious blaze? 
 That dares arreft the rolling of that eye, 
 O'er all furrounding things that curious roves; 
 That loves the Iky, uplifts its look fublime, 
 The (lars perufes, and can clearly read,
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 189 
 
 In nature's ample volume round It fpread, 
 In fplendid letters writ, the NAME DIVINE ? 
 
 When the firft man found his firft murder'd fon, 
 Stretch'd, bruis'd and lifelefs, on the fanguine 
 
 ground, 
 
 At whofe unnatural end, to nature new, 
 Blood's eldeil cry to heav'n, fhock'd Fancy paints 
 Eclipfe and groanings from the trembling earth, 
 And plaining winds, and general marks of woe 
 Thro' nature's works ; flunn'd with aftonifh- 
 
 raent, 
 
 With horror ftiffas he on whom he bent 
 His eye's wild gaze ; in doubt, or if he dream'd 
 A frightful thing, or if a waking pang 
 Shot thro' his foul, I fee the ftatue ffond ! 
 Struck by the dead with temporary death, 
 Each vital motion makes a fearful paufe I 
 Each hair is up, and every pulfe is ftill ! 
 Image of confirmation, that had mock'd 
 The painter's baffled art and fculptor's toil : 
 Inimitable marble of amaze ! 
 There, froze with mortal terror, he had flood 
 4
 
 196 CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 For ever bound, by horror's numbing power - 
 For ever held, nor more releas'd to life 
 By th' unrelenting ice had then a voice, 
 Sounding from Heav'n, the palfled fire informed, 
 That moft inhuman and moft monftrous deed, 
 Of ftormieft paffion born, with wildnefs done, 
 And firft-feen, quick-feiz'd weapon, when no eye 
 Beheld its wondrous horror, was to be 
 The fettled practice of his frantic race ! 
 By his mad children ripen'd into art ! 
 Styl'd Noble Science ! in the number rank'd 
 Of fair-reputed callings, that prefs round 
 The door of active life, and court the choice 
 Of doubtful youth ! among the paths that lead 
 To Fame's high fane, among the Mufe's theme? 
 Plac'd eminent in front! no deed of night, 
 That feeks difguife ; ambitious of the day ! 
 Provok'd and fpurr'd by the exciting thought, 
 " All eyes fhall fee me !' r Gracefully perform'dv 
 With beauteous inftruments from whofe bright 
 
 face 
 
 The beams of day rebound gay Hazing back \ 
 With no infuriate look, no quaking nerve,
 
 CIVILISED WAR. igt 
 
 But with compos'd, unruffled feature done ! 
 
 Nor flinted to one foil tar y aft ! 
 
 By multitude on multitude committed ! 
 
 Like fome diftemper'd dream, that ftrangelf 
 
 My elafs'd ideas routed and misjoin'd, 
 
 A mob of images tumultuous mixt, 
 
 War, thy mad pi6lure to mine eye appears ! 
 
 Am I awake ? or is this human fcene, 
 
 I have fo long fubftantial eflence deem'd, 
 
 Unreal apparition ? painted air? 
 
 Fancy's wild forgery, while troubled fleep, 
 
 Balmlefs-and itartful, binds my heated frame?. 
 
 And mall ere long my undeluded mind 
 
 To comelier forms of folid being roufe* 
 
 (Soon as th' oppreffion from my brain hath paftjf 
 
 And, recolle6\ing thefe fantaftic fhapes 
 
 That long have mock'd me, to my fellows tell, 
 
 How flrange a vifiem difcompos'd my reft ? 
 
 See yon pavilion'd Council fitting round 
 In calm and folemn ring ! emitting all 
 Their minds' confederated rays r that ftream 
 8
 
 192 CIVJJ.ISED WAR. 
 
 In the fame line, and on one objeft fall ! 
 
 Say wherefore form 'd this intelle&ual league,, ,fonA 
 
 With light collective luminous r to frame 
 
 Some fair harmonious plan of general weal ,| f( // 
 
 With legiflative wifdom ? or explore, v.utnVk 
 
 With philofophic amity of foul, 
 
 The fecrets bounded Science thirfts to find ? 
 
 No, not for this the reafoning circle meets f 
 
 Yon tent is the dire cabinet of Death 1 
 
 Infatiate monarch ! with the fcythe of Time 
 
 Unfatisfied, that craves th' afliftant fword ! 
 
 Thofe are his minifters ! in ruin wife ; 
 
 Sages of havoc ; devaluation's feers ; , .j^y/ 
 
 ProfefTors of deftru&ion ! Yonder, lo ! 
 
 At work mechanic Wit ! by whom weak man 
 
 His might extends, and finds in knowledge pow'r ! 
 
 The cuiious labour fee ! Is it to aid 
 
 Benignant maivufaaure ? to uplift, 
 
 Commerce, aloft in air thy ponderous wealth^ , ^, 
 
 Lend new convenience, new delight to life? ^ j 
 
 Plane to yet fmoother floor its level walks, 
 
 And plant along them flow'rs of lovelier glow r 
 
 Dire, dire reverfe ! Fall'n Ingenuity, 
 
 Degenerate from her native, beauteous fpherc.
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 On tragic engines her loft genius fpemls 
 
 And, cruelly acute, purfues alone 
 
 Difcoveries of death ! Diftrafted Art,-' 
 
 Whofe lovely office 'tis to emulate 
 
 Nature in bounties and in fmiles alone, 
 
 With her feverities perverfely vies ! 
 
 Storms (he invents ! inclemencies contrives ! 
 
 And teaches Weaknefs to be terrible. 
 Tremendous mimic of the tempeft, raan 
 Copies th' artillery of angry Jove, 
 Around him artful clouds and darknefs rolls, 
 To thunder learns, to forge and fling his bolts, 
 While thoufands at a ftroke his lightnings rive, 
 And blafted towns before his flaflies fink ! 
 Or, bowel'd in the earth, he latent breeds 
 The crafty earthquake, fubterranean rage 
 Ingenious hatching! In the wily cave 
 His hands have fcoop'd with dark infernal fraud. 
 Difpofing fate, th' artificer of ills, 
 Laborious fcholar of malignant things, 
 Studious efiays, and terribly attains, 
 To {hake the ftrong foundations of the ground, 
 Strew it with wide-fpreacl wreck, and imitate 
 The final ruin ! Mark yon vehicles
 
 1Q4 CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 Whofe wondrous road is o'er the liquid plaint ; 
 That give to eager man the morning's wings ; 
 "VVhofe proud expedience of unfolded fheets 
 Employs the air W purti 'em on their way, 
 And makes the winds their fpur ! Manfions irri^ 
 
 menfe ! 
 
 Whofe fwelling walls' a throng o( tenants hold, 
 Yet light and volant gliding, as the fowl 
 That fail the firmament ! Of human fkili 
 The miracle and pride 1 Fram'd to convey 
 Social mankind remote mankind to meet, 
 To know, to love, illumine and relieve i 
 To bear from fhore to fhore, in fair fupply, 
 Of earth and mind the produce ! fruits and truths 
 In blifsful harmony commute, and make 
 
 The world but one ! Behold ! diffracting fcerie 1 
 
 The floating houfes of the fea, arrang'd 
 In adverfe rows, advance ! the moving ftreets 
 Each other meet ! ah ! with no focial front ! 
 Freighted with thunder, they are come to hold 
 Commerce of deaths ! to (how the aftonifh'd feas 
 Such tempeft as the winds ne'er blew ! to teach 
 The tame commotion of the elements 
 How (hips to {hatter ! to out-roar, out-fpit
 
 CIVILISED^ WAK. lg| 
 
 AH air-brew'd florms, and in derifion mock 
 Their modeft fury, meek, infipid fcene 
 
 Of fober tumult ! See all Nature's gifts, 
 
 Lent but for good, made instruments of ill J 
 From the dug earth educ'd, behold that ore, 
 Of higheft worth, in richeft plenty giv'n, 
 His bounty fuch who ftock'd the orb He built, 
 Of friendly edge fufceptive, form'd to ferve, 
 With fmooth incifion, ufeful Art's fair ends, 
 See its fine point employ'd, ah ! not to draw- 
 Forth from- the furrovv'd earth the golden bread ; 
 Gall gladfome Ceres o'er her plains to laugh; 
 Or prune with ceconomic ftroke away 
 Her wafteful growth ; but, amputation foul ! 
 Lop human life, and with an impious blade 
 With purple dropping, plough the fiefh of man! 
 Beheld the heav'n-born element, defign'd 
 To aid the glow of health, fupply the beams 
 Of abfent funs with kind, domellic mine, 
 Or gild, with fuller blaze, the public dome 
 Of harmlefs pleafure! fee it turn'd againfl 
 Life's holy flame ! th' excited fpirit fee, 
 Collifion-rous'd, fprings flaming from his cell, 
 Tp dart, with nitrous rage, the leaden death,
 
 I()6 CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 To youth's gay heart, and ftop the bounding life ! 
 To bid the broken bone long time be rack'd 
 In the dread houfe of Pain ! with burfting rage 
 An heap confus'd of upblovvn bodies fhoot, 
 From earth exploded to the fky 1 fair piles 
 That flowly rofe, uprear'd by patient toil, 
 With furious hafte lay low ! or with rude heat, 
 Unlike his fire's, the gently piercing fun, 
 Sear the rich fruitage his bland fmiles had nurs'd, 
 And his mild ardours mellow'd into food ! 
 With harfli unfilial force (how much mifus'd! 
 Child of life's nourifher !) his generous work 
 Impious undo, confume the profp'rous year, 
 And juicy plenty into afhes change ! 
 
 ,m ,IOj.K>B i 3i; 
 
 No bound th* abufe obeys \ hark I the fweet 
 
 voice, 
 
 The voice of mufic floats along the air ! 
 Mufic ! aetherial magic ! heavenly breath ! 
 Thou good and pleafant amity of founds, 
 In fvveet aflbclation kindly met, 
 For gentleft ends in filver union link'd ! 
 The blithfome dance of feftive Joy to guide ; 
 Uplift the head dejected Languor hangs ;
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 197 
 
 Chafe from the brow of Care its lowering cloud ; 
 Sooth the fweet woe of melancholy Love ; 
 Still Envy's hifs ; unknit the frown of Rage 
 With all-difarming foftnefs ; gently call 
 The tender flood down melting Pity's cheek, 
 With pleafmg chillnefs feiz'd ; or, higher raisM, 
 To kindle with a concord more fublime 
 Virtue's flrong raptures to a glow divine ! 
 
 But where will profanation ftay ? E'en thee, 
 
 Celeftial harmony ! their prefs hath feiz'd 
 With impious gripe ! Relu6tant, ftruggling maid, 
 Sprung from the tuneful fphere ! with wild affright, 
 Thou find'ft thee fall'n on a difcordant orb. 
 Outrageous wreft ! perverfion moft perverfe .' 
 Mifapplication monftrous ! Horror, fay, 
 When briftles moft thine hair; when, craz'd with 
 
 woe, 
 
 In anguifh Madnefs laughs, or, on his way, 
 And at his work accurft, when Murder (ings ? 
 Hark ! the kind art, to footh the favage fram'd, 
 On favage errand fent ! to indurate 
 Humanity, mifled to iron fcenes, 
 Who to unmartial foftnefs elfe might melt ;/ 
 Tune her to flint, and lend her nerve to ftab*
 
 jg CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 The glow of abfent valotir to fupply 
 With wild mechanic daring, to reftore 
 The pallid cheek its blood, and reconcile 
 The death-devoted viaitn to the knife ! 
 Cheering ambition's facrifice to bleed, 
 Unchearful elfe ; with guileful notes allurM 
 
 Recoiling to comply ! How have they join'd 
 
 Moft heterogeneous and unmixing things ! 
 Forcing according founds to blend their chime 
 With Difcord's wildeft fcene ! where mad mankind. 
 That in the city 'gainft each other ftrike 
 In endlefs clafh, with rougheft tumult jar ! 
 
 What mean thefe fhowy and thefe noify figns 
 Of public joy, my fenfes that falute? 
 That bid my cares difperfe, my brow be finooth, 
 And all my foul be holiday ? What means 
 The cannon's roar that tears the fhatter'd Iky ? 
 The jolly peal the merry fteeples pou-r? 
 At dead of night, along the fplendid ftreet, 
 This dazzling luxury of feftive light, 
 From every window flung? -Wherefore thus 
 
 laughs 
 The hour of gloom ? Now' that " the midnight 
 
 bell
 
 CIVILISED WAR. Ip9 
 
 Doth with his irorf tongue and brazen mouth 
 Strike one,"- why walks abroad the undrowfy 
 
 world ? 
 Night's ghofts, and goblins, groans and Shadows 
 
 dire, 
 
 All fhone away, that e*en unftiudd'rmg walks 
 Bold Superftition forth? why is " proud Night, 
 Attended with the pleafures of the world, 
 Thus all fo wanton and fo full of gawds ? 
 What fair event, to polifh'd bofoms dear, 
 In polifh'd life infpires this blaze of joy ? -* 
 Say, hath the African his freedom found? 
 Spite of his {hade at length confefs'd a man, 
 Nor longer crufli'd becaufe he is not white?- 
 That were a jubilee for heav'n to fliare ; 
 To extort the gelid hermit from his cell ; 
 Inflame his root-fed blood, and fpur his age 
 With bounding ftep to join the city rout, 
 With virtuous riot generoufly wild, 
 
 A revel all divine ! But, ah ! 'tis not 
 
 for this ambitious Night affe6ts the day. 
 
 Sing lo Pasnn, lo Paean Gng ! 
 Thoufands of pulfes, high with health that leap'd, 
 P
 
 *o6 CIVILISED WAR:. 
 
 XVhofc airy fpring, to Time's oppreflion.left, j 
 Or toJDifeafe's weight, had haply play'd ^ 1O ^ 
 A length of years, by fpeedier fates laid ftilf, 
 Ne'er to go on again, or flir, Ivave ftopp'd. 
 On yon bleft fun, all as a bridegroom gay,- 
 Whom to behold it is a pleafant thing 
 For every eye ; who lays on earth and flues 
 Thefe living colours, and bids Nature's face 
 This boundiefs fm'tle of various Beauty wear ; 
 A multitude (th* ecftatic tidings tell!) 
 A. multitude of eyes, at which the heart 
 Look'd laughing out upon the day, are clos'd. 
 On his delicious light (tranfporting thought i) 
 They never more mall look ! Illume, illume 
 The glowing ftreet ! nor let one window rob 
 The general rapture of a beam it owes ! 
 Religion owns the joy : of thofe fair works, 
 Which He, whofe faultlefs wifdoin all things 
 
 made, 
 
 Made in his image, thoufands have receiv'd 
 Defacement foul (more lights, more lights emit!) 
 Or abolition's blow. -This is th' event, 
 The fair event to polifh'd bofoms dear, 
 Ta polidvd life that lights this blaze of joy.,, ^-j 
 
 ' ' '
 
 CIVILISED WAR. OQI 
 
 or this the cannon's roaring thumps the ear ; 
 For this their merry peal the fteeples pour j 
 For this dun Night her raven-hue reflgns, 
 And, with this galaxy of tapers ftarr'd, 
 Rivals the pomp of noon ! hence flows the joy 
 That calls the city's fwanns from out their cell?, 
 Laughs in each eye, and dances in each heart, 
 Prolongs their vigils, and fliakes off the dews 
 That hovering Sleep from off her wings lets fall 
 On their light lids, the high excitement fuch ! 
 All to the feaft, the Fealt of Blood ! repair. 
 The high, the low, old men arid prattling babes, 
 Young men and maidens, all to grade the feaft, 
 Light-footed trip,~the feaftj the Feaft of Blood ! 
 
 But here comes one that feems to out-rejoice 
 All the rejoicing tribe ! wild is her look, 
 And frantic is her air* and fanciful 
 Her fable drefs, and round me hurrying rolls 
 Her beauteous eyes upon the fpangled ftreet, 
 And drinks with eager gaze the fparkling fcene. 
 And, " See !" flie cries, " how they have gracM 
 
 the hour 
 That gave him to his grave ! hail, glorious lamps! 
 
 P2
 
 JJjKJ. CIVILISED WAR, 
 
 A grateful land, in honour of that hour, 
 Hath hung aloft ! and fure he well deferves O vi 
 The tributary fplendbur for he fought 
 Their battles well Oh ! he was valour's fclf I 
 Brave as a lion's was my Henry's heart ! 
 Fierce was the look with which he awed the foe ; 
 But on his Harriet when my hero bent it, 
 'Twas fo bert'ign T and beautiful he was 
 And he was young too young in years to die 
 'Twas but a little while his wing had thrown 
 Its guardian fhadow o'er me but 'tis gone 
 FalPn is my fhiekl Yet fee now if I weep 
 A Britifh warrior's widow fliould not weep 1 * 
 Her l>ero fleeps in honour's fragrant bed- 
 So they all tell me and I've nobly learn'd 
 Their gallant leffon all my tears are gone- 
 Bright glory's beam has dried them every drop f 
 No, no, I fcorn to weep high is mine heart I 
 Hot are mine eyes ! there's no weak water there ! 
 Tis true, I fhouldhave joy'd what mother would 
 
 J> l mBi-.' not ? 
 To have fhovvn him that fweet babe, o'er which, 
 
 he wept 
 When laft he kifc'd it yes he did he wept I .
 
 CIVILISED WAR. aqg 
 
 My warrior wept ! as the fond woman's tears 
 From off this cheek, where none I now can feel, 
 He kifs'd away, he wet rt with his own. 
 Oil ! yes it would 'twould have been fwect r* 
 
 have mown him 
 
 How his dear lovely boy had grown, $nce he 
 Beheld it cradled, and t' have .bid it call him 
 By the dear name that I had taught it utter 
 In foftefl tones, while he was thunder hearing, 
 And thunder hurling round him for his hand 
 Would not be idle amid deeds of glory 
 Yes glory, glory, glory is the word 
 See* how it glitters all atong the ftreet !'* 
 And then (he laughs and wildly leaps along 
 With trefles all untied. Fair wretch ! adieu ! ' 
 Jn mercy Heav'n thy {hatter 'd peace repair ! 
 
 qoil; 
 
 Mankind, wild race \ fay, are your moons to 
 
 blame, 
 
 That this demoniac, worfe than dog-ftar madnefs 
 'Mong all your nations, in each age hath foam'd? 
 E'en elemental ftrife more lading love, 
 Than ye have mown, of beauteous Peace difplayst 
 Proportioned to the fpaces of their wrath,
 
 i04 CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 For more protra&ed intervals your feas 
 Abftain from tempeft ; your lefs angry fkies 
 With greater length of feafon are ferene ; nod^ 
 In your wild forefts the loud beftial rage 
 Sufpends its roaring longer ; than your arms 
 Haveceas'd their odious din ! and the calm wor!4, 
 Beneath th,e lovely olive's placid ihade, 
 In fweet repofe from loud alarms hath lain, 
 And, lull'd in amiable quiet, known 
 ^A term of partial innocence and gold ; 
 A fickly gleam of languid amity, 
 Whofe wat'ry {hine foretels returning clouds. 
 Who that ftands ftill, and bends upon the fadfc 
 His thoughtful eye, and doth not feel his fenfe 
 Swim round with wonder, and his foul lie hufti'd 
 In the dead ftillnefsofaftonifliment? 
 That this amazing, maniac rage hath been, 
 Not of ibme fingle race th' eccentric crime, 
 For following ones to rife and wonder at, 
 By fome peculiar and uncommon caufe 
 To this wild {hoot from Nature's orbit ftung, 
 Struck by fome foreign ftar's erratic rage 1O 
 With ftrange diftra&ion ; no brief flighty fit;. 
 From men's accuftom'd line a fingle ftart j :i n\
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 3^5 
 
 By ftrong diftemper's paroxyfm infpir'd, 
 
 Some all-infe6ling f&ver's hot excefs, 
 
 When at its fierceft and delirious height |$*-r^ 
 
 But *fixd phrenzy ; of their dreadful way 
 
 The fteady tenour ; .caufmg the red ftiame ! 
 
 On Reafon's cheek that flufhes, to burn oii 
 
 Thro' rolling ages, an eftablifti'd blulh ! 
 
 Protra&ed tragedy ! as long as deep ! 
 
 Whofe unfpent horror thro' all time hath fpun 
 
 The harrowing tale ! O'er hiftory's lengthening 
 
 courfe 
 
 The vein of perfevering fury runs ; 
 Aad he that reads its pages, juiily calls them 
 Records O f Slaughter, Chronicles of Blood ! 
 
 Had this inhuman ufage been inclofedi 
 Within the limits of uncultur'd life, 
 Reafon the barbarous cuftom had furveyM 
 With lefs amazement. The rude Indian's war 
 But little wonder raifes ! He in man 
 Sees not what man contains, his magazine 
 Of latent mind, the vaft expanfe of flower 
 Whofe folded leaves the wondrous gem inwraps ! 
 In man no more tkan fmew he difcerns !
 
 206 
 
 Unpiercing to the chambers of his breaft, : -:Ji sitT 
 
 He o'er his nervous furface rolls his eye, 
 
 And, deeming all his ftrength in bulk and bone, 
 
 In brutal force concludes his glory lies. 
 
 Pent in the little circle of his tribe, 
 
 With fierce, intemperate rage his friendftiip burns * 
 
 Beyond that narrow prifon of his love, 
 
 That bounded flames intenfe, with equal heat 
 
 His hatred flames ! Tempeftuous paflion bears 
 
 His footfteps to tUfc fight ; his going forth 
 
 To fcenes of blood is the wild gufh of rage I 
 
 Himfelf a dart, with inward fury wing'd, 
 
 He (hoots to battle, bolts into the field, 
 
 And whom his arm deftroys, his foul abhors 1 
 
 Mild Reafon groans to view their wild- fought field, 
 
 Their boundlefs, frantic revelry in death, 
 
 Their blood-ftain'd teeth and trample on the flain, 
 
 In ecftafy of rage their roll in blood, 
 
 And all the lawlefs madnefs of their fight: silT 
 
 Afflicted Wifdom weeps that forms ere&, 
 
 Which might be men, ihould be no. more than 
 
 brutes ; 
 
 But, being what they are, fhe marvels not 
 That furious thus each other they devour. 
 8
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 2Q? 
 
 The fcene (he gazes with a wild amaze, 
 
 O'er which (he (hivers agued and agnail* 73 * o 
 
 Doubting her fenfe ! incredulous fhe lives! 
 
 Is the cool battle of the polifh'd world! 
 
 In the ftill cabinet ferenely plann'd ! 
 
 And with calm fkill, and blood that boils not. 
 
 fought ! 
 
 War's rul'd, methodic, mathematic fields, 
 Where fate in geometric figures lowers, 
 Curioufly ftern ! a diagram of frowns 1 
 Where fober warriors, in fquare array, 
 With fcience kill, with ceremony flay, 
 Thunder with apathy, and thin mankind 
 With looks fedate, in rows compact arrang'd ! 
 A tranquil maflacre 1 where battle deck'd, 
 Adorns deftru&ion, and makes ruin gay ! 
 In fpruce parterre where tulip terrors (land, 
 A fcene of gaudy horror ! while o'er all . 
 The field's dire Slaughter " peaceful thought'* 
 
 prefides ! 
 
 Wit, radiant fpirit ! guides the cunning war, 
 Inftruts horrific Mars which way to rufli, 
 And fhows the dev'lifli engines where to belch 
 Their fiery bolts ! THIS is the dreadful fcene,
 
 108 ClvifcJSfcl* WAR. 
 
 A&e&ctt fapicnt Europe's lucid ftagc ; 
 Where man is know for what he is, for mofii^gf 
 Than meets the eye, a mine of inward wealth, 
 Thai afks hut to be dug and into light \iv~O 
 Drawn out, a fplendid treafure to difplay ^M 
 Of goWen joys, and fterling happinefs! ImD 
 Where moral glories flrike Conception's eye ; 
 Where peaceful laurels court Ambition's hand * T 
 Where Reafon's, Virtue's triumphs, loud invite 
 Th* afpiring breaft ; and thoufand varied joys iy ) 
 IVlake life delightful and its calms endear ! JC yJ 
 THIS is the fcene, whofe chilling horror flops 
 The gallop of the blood, and bids it creep ! 
 This PLACID fwefp of human life away, 
 In human life where fo much worth is feen ! 
 Thefe chefs- board battles, where unpaffion'd men, 
 Like things of wood, by them that thoughtful 
 
 play, 
 
 Are mov'd aboujt, the puppets of the game I jcilT 
 Thefe SOBER whirlwinds of the cultur'd world, 
 That not from fierce emotion take their rage, 
 Blown by cold Intereft ; by calm Art beftridj )1i(J 
 On whofe broad wings, director of their rage, 
 Afflicting image ! form'd in other fcenes,
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 20$ 
 
 ,And fairer far, to foar, ah, much mis-fphcr*d! 
 Bright GENIUS rides the Angel of the Storm. 
 
 Civilis'd war! How ftrangely pair'd thefe terms 
 Muft ftrike on penfive Rumination's ear ! 
 Civilis'd war ! Say, did the mouth of man, 
 Fantaftic marrier of unfuited words, 
 Two fo unmatch'd, fo much each other's hate, 
 With force tyrannic, ere together yoke ? 
 Civilis'd war ! THANKS, gentle Europe ! thanks, 
 For having drefs'd the monfter's hideous form, 
 And veil'd his roughnefs in fo foft a name, 
 That tender fouls of weak, hyfteric frame, 
 Might hear with lefs of tremor, he is loofe. 
 Hail monfter dipt ! (horn of his ihaggy mane, 
 His horrid front with flovv'rs and ribbands prank'd, 
 Smooth, playful monfler ! Blending with the roar 
 Of fpreft-rage the city's poliuYd fmile ! 
 That with a mild and chriftian calmnefs flays, 
 That with more method tears his bleeding prey, 
 And, as the copious draught of blood he fwills, 
 Pifclaims the third the while ! Thanks, thou- 
 
 fand-fold, 
 Ye gay adorners of the tragic fcene !
 
 2IO CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 Thanks, in the name of all the friends of man, 
 That ye have thus their (huddcring appeas'd ; 
 And, piteous of their feeling texture, giv'n 
 Their fpirits, apt to ftartle, calm to flow, 
 Oft as your wifdom bids the idle fword 
 Leap from its cafe, and (heath its blade in man ! 
 Thanks, in the name of all the tremulous clafs, 
 Too fenfitive, the grateful Mufe accords you ; 
 That ye have beautified the frowns of war 
 And lent his terrors graces, have found out 
 Politer daughter, and genteely learn'd 
 To lay more elegantly wafte the world, 
 That ye have murder human! z/d, difcover'd 
 Ruin's moft handfome modes, and taught man- 
 kind . 
 
 With form and comeliefl order to deftroy ! 
 Of all, whofe hearts your contefts have bereav'd, 
 The bleffing comes upon you ! Robb'd by wars 
 So gently wag'd, of them beneath whofe (hade 
 Of guardian power their fhlelded weaknefs fat, 
 Ceafing their groans, pale widows fing your 
 
 praife, 
 
 With grateful notes, the tender fpoilers fing ! 
 The orphan tribes their filial forrows wipe,
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 211 
 
 Forget their woes and fvvell the juft acclaim ! 
 E'en the lorn virgin, to whofe blafted fight 
 The flain's long lift difplay'd her lover's name, 
 O'er whofe wan cheek, where beauty's rofesgrew, 
 Faft fpreads the green complexion of defpair, 
 Some fickly fmiles of gratitude (hall wear, 
 And hufh fome fighs, to join the thankful fong J 
 All, all the mourners that ye make (hall blefs 
 Your mildly, amiably flaughterous deeds ! 
 For much it balms the anguifh of their foul, 
 That they, in whom the battle's fury reach'd 
 Their rent affections, fell in polifh'd fields ; 
 By fofter hands, than whom the hatchet chops 
 In favage battle ; that a fmoother death 
 From finer points and glofller arms they took ; 
 And if they perifh'd, perifh'd by the fvvord, 
 Heart-healing thought ! of fair Civility I 
 
 Opptefl with indignation, be the Mufe 
 Forgiv'n, if ihe forget the rev'rence due 
 To facred grief, and to her weighty theme ; 
 Seeking a little interval of eafe, 
 In gay derifion, from her ferious pain : 
 For ihe hath long impatient heaving Jain
 
 212 CIVILISED 
 
 Beneath thd fuffocating load, as thu#J33-Ji bc<f i 
 The civil a&or in this fa v age fcene, 
 Europe's refin'd barbarian hath decl4im'<fb s liul I 
 * How horrible the unrelenting rage ;i n ^ 
 
 And the coarfe rudenefs of unmanner'd Mars! 
 How mild a front our eomelier battle wears ! 
 Lo J in our gentler field the lovely form 
 Of Mercy fits by Valour's fide, and oft 
 Hangs on his arm and holds its fury down." 
 It is this mildnefs, to the moral eye 
 So far from foft'ning the hard crime of war, 
 That proves the fanguinary cuffom guilt, 
 And flamps the carnage murder. Say, what priell, 
 Sent to prepare a dungeon'd wretch to die 
 For having ftain'd his hand with brother's blood, 
 Would not infer, remorfe had made him uiad, 
 To hear the ruffian feek his vice to wafli 
 With words like thefe ? " Far fouler criminals 
 Than me the woods contain. The wolf is worfe ) 
 How furioufly he lacerates the flock ! 
 With what a rage the panther tears his prey ! 
 Mark the fierce leopnrd rend his tortur'cl meaf I 
 J gave the life I clos'd an cafier end ! 
 With only one, one kindly fkilfni blow, 
 6
 
 CIVILISED WAfc. 113 
 
 I bad it ceafe ; or with a drug conceal'J 
 That woo'd to drowfy fate the foul away, 
 I lull'd, without or pain or fear, the fenfe 
 
 In bland oblivion." No; ye (hall not thus, 
 
 Sons of Civility I ye (hall not thus 
 Your darknefs cloak 1 This varnifli of your guilt 
 Is evidence againft you : all the glofs, 
 With which ye feek to overlay its hue, 
 Flings on its colour an expofmg light, 
 Elucidating all ye aim to veil. 
 That after blood ye feel no favage third, 
 Proves your offence, in fhedding it, is rank. 
 The tiger's mouth contracts no moral flain 
 Though it be red with homicide. By man 
 The maniac's blood is fpar'd, whofe rage hath fpilt 
 The blood of man. And the wild man of war, 
 "Whofe darkling mind, by knowledge unillum'd, 
 In human nature only fees an arm, 
 Who moved alone by brute-ambition's fpur, 
 Employs his witlefs brawn in cleaving fculls 
 Vacant of mind as is his own, whofe heart 
 Hydropic pants for blood, and lien-like 
 Who hungers for his foe, although his deeds 
 Are dire, no moral indignation lights
 
 314 CIVILISED WAH. 
 
 In gentle "Ufafdom's breaft. The vefy fage 
 And hard, xmmelting rigour of his field, 
 His grappling battle, eagernefs to kill, 
 Hi fiend- like yell, his hatchet and his dub*' 
 Hfe fcalping wrath, carnivorous viaory, 
 That eats in ecflafy the hoftile flefh, 
 
 That drinks hot Wood',' with boundlefe ve 
 
 drtmk, 
 
 And all th' exceffes of his frantic war, 
 While horror they infpire, extingttifh blame : 
 The more we fhudder, we the more forgive/ 
 The frightful butchery or" his combat tells, ' 
 However dreadful, it is honed fury ; 
 That, thus to at, he thinks, is to be man. 
 His barb'rous ethics know no moral worth 
 Save military power. To riis rude view ' 
 Conqueft is virtue. Pioufly he tells 
 His viaones as his titles to the Iky. 
 His talents are his arrows and his axe, 
 Sole means of earning heav'n. In hacking down 
 Another foe, he deems, his arm hath won 
 A frefh acceffion to his final joys. 
 He heaps the flain, that, in the blifsful land 
 Of favowr'd fouls, his fcnfual gholl may join '"""
 
 . . ... .... ~. * 
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 2I. 
 
 f&Ytt* >?*T mUR t JttotK' ' 
 The heavenly chafe 4 or fearch, for fcaly game, 
 
 Celeftial waters with divine fuccefs. 
 In flaughter placing thus his excellence, 
 With wild, unfated jage he flays. But, where 
 Fair Mercy mixes in the fight, 'tis proof 
 Reafon is in the field ; Reafon, that notes 
 The error of the fcene, and juft to judge 
 Its impious ads, rebukes the bufy fword. 
 Though there her voice the roar of battle drowns, 
 And though the fpells of Prejudice prevail 
 Her lips to muffle, when the cannon's throat 
 Its thunder ceafes ; yet her ftnother'd fpeech, 
 Although with deaden'd found, is heard by him 
 Who bids the fword, by brave defence uncall'd, 
 Forfake its reft. Oft, at the dead of night, 
 When flatt'rer's lips are clos'd, but not the eyes 
 Of him they call a god, fhe tells him, Man 
 Was made to cherifh, not to butcher man. 
 The. faithlefs fenator, who fells his breath 
 To wake the coals of war, (he doth proclaim, 
 Nor can his ear th* accus'd patrician feal, 
 Accomplice in the murder of mankind. 
 When in the peaceful camp, while {laughter refls, 
 Their fhouting the recumbent captains ceafe.
 
 Oft t6 the KAcPd leader of hi* band, 
 As, ruminating, filerit Ire reclines, 
 She whifpefS audible -* What doft tli6u here? 
 Js T to a fair and horieft fcehe around thec, 
 That (brinks not from the beam of piercing Truth > 
 Is this tliy port of duty ? Wert thou made 
 To be the faviour or the foe of life ?" 
 Like tented Richard's, troubled is his thought ; 
 He ftarts^ The ghoft " fits heary on his foul** 
 Of ftabb'd mankirrd Bat he is in, and on, 
 He fays, he muft but fays it with a ligh 
 Then with a bufHing motion fhakes off thought, 
 Return'd, at reft beneath the olive (hade, 
 Where Pleafure's rofes form his flow'ry couch, 
 And the foft pipes of Peace their warblings pour, 
 Ih pehfive moments when the tabors paufc, 
 She rd-appear^, injurious to his reft, 
 And fhotos his occupation as it is. 
 But it is plurh'd, and fparkles in his eye ; 
 'We tharm of rule attends it, and the lap 
 Of carelefs, filken- eafe. Nor yet by all 
 E'en of the common tribe, fedoc'd to drive 
 The fatal trade, is her mild voice unheard, rrA 
 In thete la*e
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 21? 
 
 Some check the fanguinary ftrife receives : 
 From her Temptation matters, but not kills. 
 
 But doth not, lay, the fenfe, which thus abate* 
 Of the dread fcene the military rage, 
 The moral horror raife ? Yes, it is you, 
 Sons of Refinement, fons of Science, you ! 
 Not furious fpurr'd by vmenlighten'd love 
 Of battle's falfe renown, that goads along 
 Th' enthufiaft in arms to fcenes of blood, 
 With rude career which feels no moral checks-; 
 But, urg'd by fordid aims, who calm agree 
 That blood to fhed, which in your fecret eye 
 Is facred ; to pollute your tempted hand 
 With what ye know is taint ; to do that deed, 
 Whofe Ethiopian made the gaufe difguife, 
 Truth-covering Sophiftry's white, flimfy web, 
 That o'er it falls to make it pafs for fair, 
 With its thin threads, a fcanty veil, but ill 
 From your keen fight conceals ; 'tis you alone, 
 Sons of Refinement, fons of Science, you ! 
 Convicted ftand of murder's impious crime. 
 And all the mild humanities ye blend 
 With the rough horror of the deathful feenc .
 
 ^1& % CIVILISE!} WAR. 
 
 Duringieacb paufe of intermittent Mars, 
 The courteous intercourfe betwixt you chief 
 
 That deck and foften war's ftern, rigid ftate ; 
 But ferye its iron uglinefs to point. - O : 
 
 Each ftreak of beauteous white that breaks its darky 
 Shows but in blacker night its ebon ffcade. 
 
 .'ijKfi-'. ; - 
 
 Oh ! I could fpecu-late, \vith calmer eye, 
 ,A monftrous cloud of fierce, conflicting fiends, 
 Met in mid air, with malice hot from hell, 
 Keen pains propenfe and mighty to inflift^ sf)3 
 All over arm'd with cruel faculties, ^dY 
 
 And throbbing thro' each vein with quenchJdJE 
 
 hate, 
 
 Infernal fray ! where all were uproar wild, 
 All unrelenting fpite and writhing wounds j 
 A madd'ning war of venom, Itings and teeth, ^j. 
 Into whofe dragon broil, and high -wrought rage, 
 ( Prodigious difcord!) all her out-fent foul .jjiji 
 Aledlo breath'd ! oJi, better far my fight ^A 
 Could fuch unmixt, cpnfiftent fcene endure,, Q -p 
 Than this ftrange checquer of our motley ftrifc. 
 Urbanity, and battle? manners fmooth,
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 219 
 
 And ruffian actions ! thorns that deeply pierce, 
 And beautifully flower ! fofr, courtly camps, 
 That kill, and fmile, and fmile, and kill again 1 
 
 . 
 
 Can it ( foul-freezing fpeftacle!) be he, 
 Who as a friendly neighbour fent but now 
 To their defender's board a courteous gift, 
 Who flings red bolts at yon high-feated walls ; 
 And, like a black enchanter, all malign, 
 In mifchief potent, with loud-bellowing rage 
 Spouting his fiery arches in the air, 
 Eflays to pierce and batter into d-uft 
 The maffive bulwarks? Are they (hadows, fay, 
 Or what they feem, that fit conforting there ? 
 Unnatural fellowfhip ! While Havoc flays 
 Her weary arm, and the tir'd furies breathe, 
 Lo ! adverfe chiefs, that with a hoftrle front 
 Meet in the battle, at the banquet met 
 Withfocial eyes ! the fparkling draught goes round, 
 Like friends, long parted, that again embrace, 
 And fhed the purple fpirit in their cup, 
 To crown reunion's animated hour ! 
 See a fmooth captain, with foft, civil fmile, 
 Some dainty of the table tenders him, 
 
 CL3
 
 I'U 
 
 22O CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 - ,lbl zaiRsl fbhejajH iVc/rfi fojbirfj ni 
 
 At whom to-morrow he muft thunder hurl ! 
 
 rnin gnoi an ., , ;>3b lr 
 
 And fpurs that blood in gladder tides to flow, w 
 With lively juice? cheer'd, which 'tis his talk 
 Ere long to aim to flied ! like a foul hoft, ,. l -^f 
 That hofpitably entertains the gueft 
 He dooms to midnight death. While as they reft, 
 With their gay leaders, from their bloody toils, 
 Camp'd in each others view, the hoflile bands 
 Gayly falute whom they are come to flay ; 
 Make merry interchange of fportive becks, .yy 
 And wanton nods, and fmiles, and frolic, fong, 
 And friiky dance ; like harmlefs villagers 
 In innocent aflembly on the green, 
 All garaefome oo a ruftic holiday. 
 
 &{ivW! ^wo' ' 
 
 Civilis'd war ! in every fhifting vievr, .ij, o qf 
 111 fu its thee, fiend accurs'd ! fo fair a name* 
 Though in the field a fmootlier form thou wetr 
 Than thy wild fitter hag of craggier ftupe, 
 A.felier fury thou ! for on thee wait j D ^. 
 Intenfer fufFerings ; and a wider fcene 
 With varied woes thine ampler mi fchief fills. 
 Ah, 'tis in cultur'd life, and chiefly ther, 
 War is the fcourge we call it ; there alonp
 
 CIVILISED WAS. 3$I 
 
 In thickeft fhow'r of heavieft laflies felt, 
 It deeply lacerates and long furrows makes 
 On, bleeding Happinefs ! thy mangled frame* 
 What if the field of favage conteft fhow 
 With blood a more obliterated green, 
 A redder plain and direr forms of death ? 
 The favage warrior feels, nor fears its rage : 
 Nurs'd in no filken lap, his lion-nerves, 
 Strings made of fled, firm and untrembling, know 
 To laugh at torment and to fing in death. 
 War is his fport ; in ecftafy of foul 
 He whoops and hails the hour that bids him fac? 
 its threat'ning front, its horrid frowns defy ? 
 And hew in pieces whom he's train'd to hate. 
 Not with this prompt, exulting leap to arms 
 Europe's cold hireling with her trump complies : 
 Forth to the field, unufcd to fuffer pain, 
 And long time lapp'd in foft and drowfy calc, 
 Fearful and loth he moves : the arms of Peace 
 He leaves reluctant, aud reluctant lifts 
 The hoftile fpear : nor by hot malice fpurr'd 
 5 Gainft whom he's fent to fhy, nor flaming love 
 Of whom he goes to ferve, with henrtlefs ftep, 
 Sluggifh pnd hpme-inclining, he obeys 
 Q.4
 
 %12 CIVILISED \y-Afe. 
 
 His crefted mailer's bidding to departed* 73*3 H 
 The field he enters chills again obeys" pner nl 
 His crefted matter's, bidding to cleftroy, d s 
 The coward kills, himfelf with 
 A trembling hero ; made by fear to dare. 
 Afraid to fight, yet more afraid to fly, 
 The prifoner of his poft compell'd he ftands ;bcxl 
 Now ftill, fave in his trembling joints ; now motes, 
 A meek machine obedient to command ; ,;ovl 
 Until at length mechanic confidence I /I 
 
 From frequent ^ruffes of the levell'd death 
 Gradual he draws ; and from the tumult round him 
 Catches a wildnefs, that all thought at once 
 And terror fwallows in its giddy whirl. 
 Confufion ends his fear ; he valiant grows 
 When noife hath made him mad ; and laurels then, 
 But not before, Diforder's hero reaps. , BrtA, 
 Till then (whate'er the gay-deck'd coward prate, 
 Whofe creft tremendous fcares the fons of Peace) 
 In him who fights for pay, not love of fight, 
 Nor of the caufe which his bought arm fuftains, 
 Penfive Companion but difcerns a wretch, HnU 
 When firft he enters the dread, fateful field >a o2 
 A cold, recoiling wretch, that, pale, regrets .
 
 He e'er forfook the fufe domeftic fcenc. 
 In fancy flain by every mortal found, 
 Lifelefs he hears the loud exploded deaths, 
 And, ere he bleeds, a thoufand wounds endures. 
 
 .* 
 
 Ah cruel lufts ! wherever ye have lain, 
 Lodg'd in whatever bofoms, founts of wan, 
 That myriads thus have unrelenting fent 
 From the fmooth walks and gentler fcenes of life 
 To freeze with horror amid forms they Ibthe ; 
 While warm with health, to face the lance of 
 
 death, 
 
 Without a caufe to kindle fcorn of life ; 
 Dire ills to work, where ill to none they wifh ; 
 Harm whom they hate not, whom they know not 
 ,n3ft crufh, 
 And at the fiend by fury uninfpir'd ! 
 
 nor pain "nor terror in his field 
 The barbarous warrior knows, but death's dread 
 
 r, .. , 
 
 t em: ftrolce 
 
 Unfhrinkins; dares, as mercilefshe deals, 
 
 
 So nor from Nature's frowns, wherever drays 
 
 His rambling war, by hardening Nature bred,
 
 $34 C1VILUEJ5 WAR. 
 
 His horny frame unftringing fickncfs dreads. 
 Far other fate$ fh' unprofperous fteps purfue 
 Of art-fenc'd Heajth, when far from genial wall* 
 And generous food, the tender wanderer ftray*. 
 Sicknefs, flow, filent enemy, afiails 
 Her pining victim ; cheerlcfsly confum'd ; 
 And e.nyying whom the fword's keen edge deflroys, 
 That glowing die 'mid action's madd'ning heat, 
 *yhat fudden drop and bid their pains adieu ! 
 A mournful, foul-depreffing clofe is theirs ; 
 Nor animating tumult round them roars, 
 Nor reputation's bubble floats before 
 Their cheated eyes, nor fond domeftic hands 
 Difpofe their pillow, and fuflain their head. 
 From comfort quite cut off, outcaft they lie 
 From civil life's accommodated couch, 
 From military glory's fancied bed, 
 And left to quit the light at once without = jn ^ 
 A foldier's folace, and a man's fupport. ,.,Q 
 t nu: ' 1 O T 
 
 Nor to the field is the dire rage confin'jd ^ f r-p 
 Of our fpft-nam'd contentions, where alone.,.* 
 The wars that iffue from the woods are felt. ^p 
 Thpie whom thefe Jeave behind at home, they k^re 
 6
 
 CIVIUSEO WAR. 
 
 In undiminifh'd plenty there to dwell. "* H 
 The Tons of Nature Nature frill fupplies : 3rfao / 
 The war nor drains their waters nor their woods, 
 Thins nor their hunted meal nor finny prey. 
 But Traffic's fend live and complex web 
 Shakes, at the trumpet's call, through all its lines: 
 Nor the domeftic fcene, where trade prevails, 
 Efcapes concuflion 'mid the war-fliook world. 
 'Tis agitation all ! the quaking fpreads 
 O'er every part ! nor finds affrighted Peace 
 One firm, unrocking fpot on which to reft, 
 Amid the tremor of the flu v 'ring fcene. 
 The city feels the rage that fuins the field. 
 To the connected, fympathifing fphere 
 The battle's ftrokes their dire vibrations fend. 
 There frowns the war in other fliapes of ill ; 
 There Famine, hailing the neglected loom 
 And poor man's mournful leifure, while the fw^rd 
 Quick mows its victims, flowly gnaws her prey. ' 
 To match the ruin of the crimfoa'd plain, 
 There profperous fortunes fall, and houfes fink, 
 And broken fpirits bleal, and hopes are erufh'd : 
 Shock follows (hock ; crafli after crafh refound, , 
 And groan fucceeds to groan 5 the wild dcfpaii
 
 *iS CIVILISED WAP.. 
 
 Of them that walkM inlife's moft flowery ways, 
 From their fair Eden in a moment fent ' ; *>MbH 
 To wander Poverty's drear, thorriy^33, nc ^ & flA 
 Caufe endlefs flreams of generous woe to run ^A. 
 From gentle Pity's eyes, that fcarcely wip'd, ~ - 
 Gnfh out again, and yet again are fill'd, 
 Replenifh'd by the troubles as they rife 
 In long fucceffion to her aching fight : 
 While, frequent, burfts upon the ftartled car 
 The loud explofion from the tube of death, 
 ?Mid ihe dbmeftic ftillnefs thunder ftrange ! rsrfT 
 He^rt-quailing noife ! raiflng prefages dire 
 In each mifgiving hearer ! follow 'd fwift brcA 
 By boding Friendfhip's dart into the room, 
 Pale Horror's piercing fcream, or fpeechlefs trancel 
 Nor lefs fuperior agonies attend 
 The focial feelings, where they finer throb 
 In cultur'd bofoms, when the fevering fword 
 Cuts from their twine the life to which they-clung. 
 Full foon the wounds of coarfer fpirits clofe : 
 One doleful howl the favage mourner fends <UM 
 For *)lifc flSin friends ; one loud and piercing ftiriisk 
 Fi'dfti'fetnale'woe, contents the tendernefs- -^HW 
 Ot Neman's fonder loxe: then Grief -farewcl 

 
 CIYtf.ISEJJ.WA*. 
 
 all is joy y for victory is theirs ; -^ 
 Hufh'd is each groan ; and every tear is 
 And frantic fhout and revelry fucceed.. ^nfiW oT 
 Ah ! not fo foon the eyes, - which battle dUifc^Q 
 On other ihor.es, the tender dews difmifs. *ot''t 
 There tremble long the unexhaufted drops; 
 The ilabb'd Affedtions there bleed copious oa 
 In countlefs breads (war's wideft, deepeft wounds F) 
 When the ftaia'd fword, that drank the precioas 
 
 blood, 
 
 That from their own, or the fame fountain flow'd, 
 Or as their own was dear, hath long been wip'd 
 And to its {heath return'd there, memory-bound. 
 Sits mute Affliction in full many a heart, 
 Month after month and year fucceeding year ; 
 And when her garb of wee k worn no more, 
 Stili mourns within, with grief that " pafles (how." 
 
 Since fuch the foul offence, th' enormous crime. 
 Gigantic guilt of war, exhaufting all 
 Man's powers of ill, that leaves him nothing marc 
 Of monftrous to be done, whence is it, fay,- 
 Whence is it, when the martial bands, gp- forth, 
 Not to beat batik, with righteous
 
 3LiS CIVILISED ; \VAft. 
 
 The lawlefc breaker into peaceful laivls, 
 ButcUftant men with adverfe eyes to meet, <- n & 
 And blood that flows in vein* remote to fpilljnl 
 Whence is it, as they pafs, the general eye 43. 
 Complacent on the long proceflion looks ? 
 Where is the horror of the gazing throng, 
 That choke the flreet, or, to the windowsdrumm'J, 
 Thick clufter there, whofe theatre of looks 
 . With placid fmile the fpe6tacle approve? .< ^rfT 
 Why is it, that on all the faces round ~; rfJoCI 
 No frowns are feen ? no pale abhorrence fpreads ? 
 No dhcompofure ftirs ? Whence comes the peace 
 On.each fix'd countenance fo found that fleeps? 
 Lo ! not a brow is knit ! nor quits its reft r z \ 
 One quiet feature ! nor one fmgle eye biW 
 Darts angry light, or wounded (brinks away, 
 At fuch a monftrous fcene I a concourfe vaft 
 Of homicides, thick preiling on the.figbjt-lrf ftO 
 Wliofe train protracted fatiates, as they pafs, 
 E'en eyes, that ga7,e on fliows with long tlelight 5 
 Each going forth to do that deed accurs'd, 
 Whofe folttary aft, in Fancy's car, O I H 
 
 Excites the raven's fcream ; while the dread- fp9t* 
 Where violated life's hoarfe groans arofe^-^ [[
 
 CIVILIZED WAR. 
 
 Shows frightful ihapes to Superftition's eye ; 
 And the dire tale, on winter's witching eve, 
 In narrower ring the fhivering circle knits 
 Glofe creeping to the warm, protecting hearth. 
 
 Where is that thing, whofe foul deformity 
 Drefs cannot cover from untutor'd man ? 
 Carelefs he looks on all furrounding things, 
 The knowledge of their furface all his lore. 
 Doth Error meet him cloth 'd in eloquence ? 
 He clafps the painted hag, and, charm'd believes, 
 'Tis beauteous Truth that fills his clofe embrace. 
 In the gay purple, which the profp'rous wear, 
 Is Mifery enrob'd ? He knows her not, 
 With envious eye furveys, and deems there flamls 
 Felicity before him. Laughs aloud 
 Light, vacant Joy ? He dreams, Content is there. 
 On higher ftation [lands a human form ? 
 His credulous eyes a higher ftature own. 
 Or doth foul Guilt in fair array appear, 
 Grac'd with the fplendour or of wit or rank f 
 He looks and loves a'nd calls her Innocence ; 
 E'en virtue calls her. But 'tis here, 'tis here, 
 All potent ctr'ei"$! in all its magic powV,
 
 2;p CIVILISE P WAR. 
 
 Thy witch'ry on his cheated eye is (hownL 
 Lo ! what an ample width of interval, 
 In eftimation's fcale, he thoughtlefs makes 
 Between the felf-fame deed, when unadorn'd, 
 Undreft it ftands, and (hows its naked fhape, 
 And when thy drap'ry, Decoration ! flings ><& A, 
 Its graceful folds and fplendid colours o'er it! 
 
 Stript of its trappings, 'tis an aft fo dire, 
 He, whom allurements ftrong incline that way 7 
 When his firft tendency ftirs faint within, 
 Shrinks from his thought ; llrives from himfelf 
 
 to fiee ; 
 
 And is afraid to truft him with himfelf. 
 With violent force lie calls his thoughts from oft 
 So foul a thing, and tries to chain 'em down. 
 Again and yet again the magnet prize, 
 Whofe ftrong attraction draws againfl the terms 
 As ftrongly that repel him, fpite of all 
 His eager druggies from it, to his mind 
 Recurs ; renews its hold ; repeats its pulls : 
 Again and yet again his look returns 
 To the dread work hy which it muft be won, 
 Ere bis recoiling Reafon, lefs and lefe
 
 WAR! 231 
 
 That backward Hart's,' as oftener up it goes 
 And eyes itefear, with flow aflent complies. 
 A deed & black, that he who has a heart 
 To wirti it done, and gold a hand to buy, 
 Culls from the throng, with penetrating choice, 
 A face of flone ; whofe mufcles ne'er relax 
 Into a fmile ; whofe dark, o'erhanging brow, 
 Encaves his eyes, that, from their deep recefs, 
 Glare like the furly lion's in his den. 
 A deed, which he who to another moves, 
 Knows not to name ; * he has a thing to fay, 
 Which, while he can be feen, he cannot fay, 
 Full in his face while looks the flaring fun j 
 Which he muft fay furrounded by the night ; 
 Which he would fay without the ufe of found, 
 Silent infufe into his fellow's breaft 
 By infpiration's immaterial tongue ; 
 Which, with half utterance, he hefitates, 
 With an unfinifh'd voice, unfwell'd with breath, 
 Faint, coward tones that fear to pafs the lip, 
 Sounds fo like filence, that the hearer doubts 
 If heard or not ; with fentences, concife, 
 Clofe dipt and fpare, a frugal, niggard fpeech ; 
 
 * Shakefpear : King John. 
 
 R
 
 .23*'- * CIVILISED WAR, 
 
 Al^prattng fuperfluities left out, 
 And iffired none hut necfcflary founds ; 
 Speech b&e of words, all hint and ikeletoir, 
 In expletives, that plump fleek language our 
 Meet for the lips of Pleafure, all uncloath'd r S W 
 Suited cadav'rous to the gha% theme H W' 1 
 A deed, in which the hardier villain's mouth, 
 That would th* accomplice hold his words have- 
 caught, 
 
 In. his oft back-retreating heart muft oft 
 His rallying fpirit pour. It is a deed, 
 Which when determined by a tempted wretch, 
 AH his dire fund of fortitude in ill 
 He muft call forth to do, and wind his heart 
 As high as it will ftretch. His choice of time 
 He fixes on the hour when all the world 
 Is dead; when with the colour of his aft 
 Darknefe accords ; and every eye is clos'cl. 
 * Between his purpofe and his dreadful ftroke 
 Wild is the fpace within- him : f to the fcene 
 Of his foul adion, with light-felling feet, * mo1 
 Ghoft-'like he glides; and fancifully dreads 
 Left ftrange and myftic voices roufe the worKK 
 And blao the' ripening horror. When the blow 
 
 * Julius Csfar. f Matbcth.
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 233 
 
 Hisheav'n-abandon'd, hell-urg'd arm hath flruck, 
 He is " afraid to think on what he has done ;" 
 That 'twere undone, is his devoured wifh. 
 Of heaven and earth he feels himfelf accurft. 
 With wildeft fuperftition feiz-'d, he dreads 
 That fupernat'ral indexes will point 
 Their finger to his guilt. Whate'er his gain, 
 He finds that Peace and he have parted, ne'er 
 To meet again. 'Tis ill for ever with him. 
 An horrid fpecire is before his eyes. 
 The grave fends back again its ghaftly prey ; 
 The fhadowy refurredtion's grim reproach 
 Shakes all the trembling pillars of his foul. 
 Heflarts, when nothing ftirr'd; " Whofpeaks?" 
 
 he afks, 
 
 When no one fpoke ; and mutters things unheard 
 With nimble-moving lips that fend no voice. 
 Difturb'd e'en in the ftilleft room he lies ; 
 Kept by no noife awake, no fleep he finds, 
 Or no oblivion finds it. Glad t' efcape 
 From fearing vifions, foon in fvveats he wakes. 
 To cheer his midnight hour he mutt have light 
 Perpetual at his couch ; the live-long day, 
 As clings a drowning wretch to him he holds, 
 
 Ra
 
 234 CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 (Dreading, as doth that drowning wretch the 
 
 ^vo^ aTe v .;;... iiab'bDift ilowi .^ba^fin"!! 
 Heart-whelming folitude) he clofe adheres ,,fw 
 
 To fome companion's fide ; his hunted foul, 
 From the keen terrors that purfue it, feeks 
 Protection in his prefence ; when there's near 
 Nought hoIHle to him fave himfelf, he fears ; 
 Flees unpurfued ; and unfufpected, reads 
 In every eye difcernment of his crime. 
 His life an heavy weight upon him lies 
 
 He can no longer bear ; with wither'd look. 
 
 b %q 3l 
 
 Parch'd by the fever of remorfe, he comes .njj 
 A witnefs 'gainft himfelf; and refuge feeks, 
 In the dire executioner, from one 
 
 H^tlt^ 
 
 More dire within ; before his country's bar 
 When pale he {lands, a curious multitude 
 The hall of juftice fluff, with hungry eyes 5f {T 
 And gloomy eagernefs to mark the {heath. 
 Of fuch a monftrous mind! each line to trace, 
 Where Penetration feeks to track the path '.[ ]-{ 
 Of afped-printing foul ; and every look ^ n ^ 
 And motion, with unwearied watchfulnefs, ... )O Q 
 Of the prodigious culprit to devour ! j m ^ nj 
 
 ilumA
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 2^5 
 
 Yet this fame at, which e'en though fmgly done, 
 If naked feen, fuch fhuddering horror moves, 
 When e'en on gafping myriads at a time 
 It is committed, yet when it is done 
 With all its tinfel on it, with its pomp 
 And robe about it, by a numerous troop 
 Whom ermin'd Mightinefs commands and keeps ; 
 Whofe corporal forms the critic eye approves, 
 Seledt in ftature, of proportions fair ; 
 Whofe trim attire, with nice adjuftment neat, 
 Is pure from foil, and bright with fliovvy dies ; 
 Who to black fcenes of lurid horror go, 
 In holiday and laughing colours deck'd, 
 Gay, rainbow butchers ; who nor hang their head, 
 Nor drop their eye abafh'd, as on they move, 
 But, with a fwelling cheft and (lately port, 
 That ftrut to blood ; amid the gaping throng, 
 With plumy fummits towering eminent, 
 Tall above men ; whofe weapons luminous 
 Hold mirrors to the fun, return his beams, 
 And give the light their fplendid face receives, 
 Doubling the day ; all regularly plac'd 
 In fyftem fair and fymmetry of pods, 
 Amufive to the eye; with meafur'd pact
 
 
 t a ..TAW (132* j i 
 
 236 CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 >3nuh ztiotftnom t n-3qRifyifti t Jd 
 Harmonious moving, timing every ftep 
 
 In fymphony of feet ; or fitting proud, 
 
 Mounted en difciplin'd and fiery fteeds, 
 
 .... - 
 
 Whofe haughty arch of neck bears high their heads, 
 And red, dilated noftrils {hoot out fmoke, 
 Panting with gen'rous heats, that fnort and neigh, 
 And reftlefs paw and champ the foamy bit, 
 And high curvet, impatient of the fteps 
 Of grave proceffion's folemn pace of ftate ; 
 While beauteous banners o'er the moving pomp 
 Unrol their filken fheets, that in rich ftreaks 
 Vie with the morning, and, in eafy llream 
 And playful freedom, flutt'ring loofe in air, 
 Flirt with the wanton gale ; and fprightly founds 
 Of routing mufic join the gorgeous fhow, 
 The thundering tone of drums, and the keen notes 
 Of the iliarp fife, and high inciting founds 
 Of trumpets that perfuade the thrilling ear, 
 " 'Tis honour calls to arms, and the big call 
 'Tis heroes that obey :" thus proudly cloath'd 
 In luxury of drefs, with fuch a fweep 
 And fwell of regal gown, all over cloak'd 
 In every part with amplitude of pall, 
 Voluminous difguife ! this ugly act,
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 237 
 
 Foul hag of night, mifhapen, monftrous thing, 
 
 Abhorr'd and loathfome to the fenfe of right, 
 
 As to the fight the rihs of bony Death, 
 
 Or hideous Scylla's womb of barking hounds, 
 
 Fails to dHguft ; the amiable vice, 
 
 Hid in magnificence and drovvn'd in ftate, 
 
 Lofes the fiend ; receives the founding name 
 
 Of Glorious War ; and thro' th' admiring throng 
 
 Uncurs'd the ornamented murderers move. 
 
 ' 
 
 Law ! feeble regent in young Reafon's place, 
 Too young as yet to reign, how fhort a wing 
 O'er human weal doth thy protection fpread ! 
 From rapine and from wrong contracted fcreen ! 
 A fpeck of fhield, o'er the vaft focial frame 
 That throws a fpot of {hade, and leaves the bulk 
 Uncovered to the battle ! puny arm ! 
 Whofe fairy rod, for tiny Mifchief made, 
 E'en him deters not, in his petty fphere, 
 With ftealing foot to move ; while with loud ftrides 
 Giant Injuftice walks uncheck'd abroad, 
 And braves both earth and ikies, and ftrikes fuch 
 
 blows, 
 
 With his unwieldy, pond'rous, pounding mace, 
 R 4
 
 138 CIVIMSED WAR, 
 
 As to the centre ihake the trembling orb !- .- ^^ 
 Whofe limbs enormous no huge magiftrate 
 With mighty grafp arrefts, with maffy chain, 
 Of link prodigious, manacle immenfe, 
 
 Hath p'ow'r to bind. If but fome few life-drops 
 
 Blufh on the ground, for him, whofe impious 
 
 hand 
 
 TJie fcanty purple fprinkled, a keen fearch 
 Commences ftraight ; but, if a fea be fpilt, 
 But if a deluge fpread its boundlefs ftain, 
 And fields be flooded from the veins of man, 
 O'er the red plain no folemn coroner 
 
 His inquifition holds. If but one corfe, 
 
 I v w 
 
 With murder's fign upon it, meet the eye 
 Of pale Difcovery in the lone recefs, 
 Juflice begins the chace ; when high are piled 
 Mountains of flain, the large, enormous guilt, 
 Safe in its fize, too vaft for laws to whip, 
 Trembles before no bar. Thus clofe her fyhere, 
 
 How poor the boaft of Law ! She wants an eye 
 
 J T,rna>l 
 More keen, to find whom, caught, her arm can 
 
 
 
 fcourge; ^ T 
 
 And in her hand there needs a Michael-fword 
 
 llteW 
 
 Of ampler blade her bulkier foes to fmite,
 
 JJAW .aazi. 
 
 CIVILiSED WA*, 239 
 
 Fell Mountain-Evil, huge, colofial fiend, 
 Satanic in his fiature and his might. 
 
 From lawlefs force, look round the world and fee. 
 Defence how feeble legal force affords ! 
 Aflault and felf-reliance for relief 
 Compofe the fcene of man. 'Tis warfare all J 
 Still reign the woods, and frill mankind is wild! 
 Each hour of life, or wrongs arriv'd require 
 Repulfion bold, or wrongs expeded call 
 For ceafelefs caution. Fear her forts ere&s 
 O'er all the public, all the private, world. 
 Which way we look, fortifications talk 
 Of man in danger from his fellow-man ; 
 Of man 'gainft man for ever on his guard. 
 Lq ! o'er each door, each window, of each houfe 
 The traverfe bar ! Lo ! every cautious land, 
 By ocean unencircled, cin&ur'd flands 
 With art's munition ! each fufpicious night, 
 Remark its bolted towns ! their gate's thick guard !- 
 The (tony mound that folds them in furvey.l 
 The mural girdle's iterated round ! 
 Wall within wall ; protection intricate ! 
 While water adds its flowing guard, t' afford
 
 A4Q CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 Fulnefs of fafety, and fhut out the foe : 
 
 I TrPOTfqt 7 q oJ 1 
 
 The wildeft, felleft enemy of man ! 
 The lion eminent ! the wolf fupreme ! 
 Whofe mighty prowl around the human fol^ * 
 Requires an iron pen, a maffy coop 
 To keep him out ; and whofe incurfive craft 
 A laboured, complicate exclusion afks. 
 i . 
 
 And is this civil life, where civil lands 
 So fcant a fum of favage violence 
 Can lafh within them, while, without them, all 
 Againft each other the barbarian play ? 
 Where Fraud her contefts adds to tliofe of Force, 
 And wars the city and the field infeft ? 
 Oh! when that voice, which dead confuflon heard, 
 Shall human chaos hear ? Oli ! when fhall ceafe, 
 Obedient to its call, this noife confus'd 
 Of various battle? this continuous din, 
 In war, of clafhing fteel; in peace (mifcall'd, 
 Than a fweet name no more), of clafliing aims r 
 Of felfifh interefts in eternal tilt 
 Contending ? this extended tournament, 
 (Making all human life its boundlefs lift, . r ,, * 
 And through all time prolong 'd) of private views 
 8
 
 CIVILISED WAR. 241 
 
 To private views oppos'd ; irregular 
 
 Againft each other ruftiing ; keeping up, ' 
 
 From age to age, one everlafting cloud 
 
 And clatter of encounter j to the friend > 
 
 Of human kind prefenting, as he fits 
 
 From the hot combat penfively apart, 
 
 A picture all confus'd of counter paths, 
 
 Each other thwarting with collifion loud ! 
 
 A wildly drifting, ever-floating fcene ! 
 
 A fea of finking and afcending heads, 
 
 Where all is undulation, rife and fall ! 
 
 This, mounted high with plume and fpear, that 
 
 down, 
 
 Unhors'd amid the trampling, writh'd with pain, 
 Biting with bankrupt-agony the ground ; 
 While fhouts and groans, in air tumultuous mix'd, 
 With harfli difcordant noife afflict the ear. 
 
 How long (hall it be thus? Say, Reafon, fay, 
 When (hall thy long minority expire ? 
 When {hall thy dilatory kingdom come? 
 Hafte, royal infant, to thy manhood fpring ! 
 Almighty, when mature, to rule mankind. 
 Weak are the outward checks, that would fupply
 
 242 CIVILISED WAR. 
 
 Thy bridle's place within the fecret heart. 
 Thine is the majefty ; the victory thine, 
 For thee referv'd, o'er all the wrongs of life. 
 The pigmy Rapine, whofe invafions vex 
 The private fcene, that hides his head minute 
 From human juflice, it is thine to end ; 
 And thine, the Titan-crimes that lift to heaven 
 Their blufhlefs fronts and laugh at laws : to thec 
 All might belongs : leap to thy ripen'd years ! 
 Mount thine immortal throne, and fway the world! 
 
 ;TV* ikl*..-
 
 
 ' 
 
 WAR ELEGY; 
 
 BETTER SUITED TO OUR CIRCUMSTANCES 
 THAN THE WAR ELEGIES OF TYRT^EUS. 
 
 FOUNDED ON A RECENT TRAGICAL FACT.
 
 Qt (;!>> 
 
 ion ei 
 
 
 
 :-. ni/oJ 
 
 " ,v>ju;mT. <qqui 
 
 it .-| -I 
 
 >h;oi o; ur :irf on 
 vi./>lcl''t'i[w n- r 
 
 q zi vlioct-27 hnc- , .ill Ik 
 -irn io t;:;ri';; t-'.'.l .i'jJriq:'.". 
 
 j(ii 3(1 ,nu:i 3'ICIt;d 3>;!' '.".V ^13^ 
 
 > 
 
 to <i3on/>fli's(ij'; 10* i'ltV/ *j^>6n- dguprfj 
 
 d r.rv acrll 3icra sir t io-.oft leap?
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 I N the preceding poem I have endeavoured to 
 draw a general pi6ture of the calamities occa- 
 fioned by war. But a general picture is not 
 perhaps calculated to produce, upon the majo- 
 rity of minds, fo lively an impreffion, as a de- 
 tached fcene of individual dJftrefs. vSuch a fcene 
 is exhibited in the following little piece; a fcene, 
 which, as it was the a&ual effecl: of an exifting 
 war, and bears therefore unequivocally the co- 
 lours of truth, I conceived to be no unfuitable 
 fupplement to a performance, which aims to 
 delineate, with ftrid fidelity, the dreadful fea- 
 tures of war in general : a fubjedl:, which needs 
 no help from imagination to roufe and agitate 
 the bread : a fubjet, upon which fal furpafles 
 all the powers of fiction, and veracity is poetry. 
 While the reader contemplates the image of mi- 
 fery which thefe lines place before him, he has 
 only to reflect, that inftances of fimilar agony, 
 though not all attended with circumftances of 
 equal horror, are more than can be numbered 
 in every country that is at war, in order to feel
 
 C 246 ) 
 
 that ftrong and uncontroiable abhorrence of this 
 moft heinous of human crimes, which will fuf- 
 fer no man to keep a guilty filence while it is 
 perpetrating before him. I have broken mine : 
 and while the difcharge of a duty has fet my 
 confcience at eafe, the vent of an indignation it 
 could not contain has fomewhat relieved my 
 heart. Let but a few of thofe, who are able to 
 fpeak with more effe<5t, add their voice, and " the 
 flame of facred vehemence*," which this caufe 
 is adapted to kindle, wall be communicated to 
 the, general breaft ; and they who have been 
 hitherto dead in moral indifference, the " dumb 
 things" in fociety, " will be moved to fympa- 
 thife*," and find a tongue to reprobate a prac- 
 tice, infufferable to all who are awakened to the 
 flighted reflection and feeling. 
 
 ' -Comus. 

 
 WAR ELEGY, 
 
 O'ER once the haughty baron's houfe of war, 
 Now to a country's dreary jail decay'd, 
 
 Whofe ruin frowns on yon tall hill from far, 
 The dead of night had thrown its deeped fhade : 
 
 Hufh'd lay the captive foes of angry law ; 
 
 Loud clanking chains the ear no longer fill ; 
 Oblivion blefs'd the hopelefs felon's ftraw j 
 
 And Mis'ry's mad, inebriate mirth was flill. 
 
 But one there was whofe lids refus'd to clofe ; 
 
 More greatly curft, one daughter of Defpair, 
 Who wildly thus pour'd forth her ileeplefs woes 
 
 Thro' the deep fiilence of the midnight air; 
 
 " 'Tis well 'tis well : my foreft ill is o'er: 
 Thou little wretch, that caus'd my keeneftpain, 
 
 Shalt raife thy piteous looks to me no more, 
 For food my utmoft efforts fail'd to gain f 
 S
 
 248 WAR ELEGY. 
 
 Come, kill the mother who her child has killM*! 
 
 Hafte, righteous judges, and avenge the deed ! 
 Yes, "men of juftice, I've for ever ftill'd <mo ^ 
 
 The raging famine that I could not feed* 
 
 Death, to thy gate I come at laft for aid ! 
 
 I knock'd at others, and they gave me none: 
 ' I and my babe are perifhing,' I faid ; 
 
 Me and my babe they fternly bad Begone ! 
 
 Friend of the poor ! an outcaft wretch receive ! 
 
 From woes the wealthy will not, thou wilt faveF 
 Thy kinder hand (hall all my wants relieve : 
 
 No hunger gnaws us in the eafy grave. 
 
 . - 
 
 No mother o'er her flarving; infant there 
 
 Her empty hands with raving anguifh wrings ! 
 
 What Was it brac'd this heart fuch pangs to bear ? 
 Kow came ye not to crack, ye iron firings? 
 
 * The poor woman,, having loft her huftand in the war, and 
 having implored relief at feveral doors in vain, in the town of Li- 
 verpool, in a fit of defperation, took her child (about three year* 
 eld) in the public ftreet, and da(hed its head againft the wall : im- 
 mediately furgical aid was called, but in vain. Upon opening the 
 body of the child, the furgeon gave it as his opinion, that its fto- 
 mach had not received food for three days before. The miferable 
 mother is committed ts Lancafter Caftle. 
 
 Taken from the Cambridge Intelligencer^ Augttft 15, 1795.
 
 WAR ELEGY. 249 
 
 Bread? fweeteft fuppliant afk it not of me 
 The laft, laft crumb I had, has long been gone: 
 
 Come, (hall I lift thee up, and let thee fee, . 
 That flielf thine eager gaze devours, has none ! 
 
 Oh, take thofe craving, cruel eyes away ; 
 
 Look thus at them, who feaft on fumptuousfare : 
 Yonder they fit ! the loaded boards furvey ! - 
 
 Carry thoie afking eyes, pale fufferer, there. 
 
 "Murd'refs !" Tis falfe : did/ the murder do ! 
 
 Say not 'twas / that flain'd the walls with gore : 
 Ye hard, unmelting fona of Wealth, 'twas you ! 
 
 In vain I wept for fuccour at your door. 
 
 Ye would not let my little cherub live ; 
 
 Rocks ! ye refus'd to lend it longer breath : 
 A mother gave rt all fhe had to give- 
 
 Gave it a beggar'd mother's bleffing -DEATH 1 
 
 Heav'ns! how I ftrove my innocent to fave ! 
 
 Till my worn fpirit could no longer ftrive ; 
 No more endure to hear the breath I gave 
 
 All fpent in cries for bread I could not giv! 
 Sa
 
 2CO WAR. ELEGY. 
 
 -vvolHi ^k 
 For three long days my wond'rous patience bony 
 
 Thofe ne'er to be forgot, heart-piercing cries ; 
 Bore to behold the pining looks implore o }j g j 
 Bore the dumb hunger of the hollow eyes ! 
 
 For joy a child is bom into the world, 
 Delirious mother, that her pain forgets f 
 
 Mine out again this hand in mercy hurl'd ! 
 My bounding heart with jufler tranfport beats ! 
 
 Here what but wolves, but fierce deftroyersdweli? 
 
 They tore my hufband from my.helplefs fide, 
 And, when the father in their battles fell-, 
 
 A little bread his famifti'd babe denied. 
 
 When Surfeit fwells while wafting thoufands die, 
 When Riot roars amidft furrounding groans, 
 
 Whence fprings the patience of the quiet fky ? 
 What, keeps ye filent, ye unruffled ftones? 
 
 Farewel, thou dreary fcene of want and woe ! 
 
 The poor to duft where hard oppreffors grind ; 
 Force feas of blood and feas of tears to flow, 
 
 And revel in the torments of mankind !
 
 WAR ELEGY. 25! 
 
 My feilow-vuStims ! that fo calmly lie, 
 
 Nor join the vigils thefe parch'd eyes muft keep, 
 
 Forgetful each of all his mifery, 
 
 I alfo, found as you, fhall fhortly fleep. 
 
 Fly, my deliverers ! hither wing your way 1 
 Come, in your robes of beauteous office, come! 
 
 And you, ye brighteft fun-beams, deck the day, 
 That to her reft a weary wretch fhall doom." 
 
 
 **<b zl- 
 an;~ 
 
 * 
 
 i 3OW httfi 
 
 S3
 
 '/ 8 T 

 
 THE 
 
 ART OF POETRY, 
 
 ACCORDING TO THE 
 
 LATEST IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 BY 
 
 Sir SIMON SWAN, Baronet. 
 WITH ADDITIONS. 
 
 Munus et officium Jcrlbcndi rtfte docebo : 
 
 IJnde parenrur opes : quid alat, formetque Poetams 
 
 fciuid deceit, juid non : quo virtus, quo ferat error. 
 
 HOR. 
 
 84
 
 UI90***)*'* 
 
 t ,.&ez3 yrn OJ;: 
 
 i'jiv * noa 
 
 ; nuoa yra 
 
 :^i D1CTO 
 
 .-'. 
 
 
 
 bo \ao!}M'a39&- 1 ^ ^d llu^ . Ibloiq 
 
 ,l3oiq ol ?i?oiifob yU^nriiiq Cfi^ 1 rfiiriw noqo 
 -mr, Ji-?l'^7' r-.'^'"^ t^M-woflsl- xJnaqDi
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 i H E manner in which the following Poem 
 fell into my hands, was this. Being lately 
 upon a vifit to the illuftrious author, at his 
 country feat, where the polite ftudies, that 
 have been the ornament and folace of his life, 
 afford a ferene and elegant delight to the even- 
 ing of his days, I had the pleafure of frequent 
 converfations with him upon the fine arts, and 
 more efpecially Poetry; to which Sir Simon 
 profefled to have paid his chief attention, and 
 upon which I was principally defirous to profit 
 by his fuperior knowledge, being myfelf am- 
 bitious of obtaining one little " fprig of laurel'* 
 by the affiduity of my court to the Mufes. I
 
 expreffsd ray own opinion of the requifites for 
 acquiring the honours of a poet, with the 
 warmth of one, eager to recommend himfelf 
 to the patronage of fo great, and the efteem of 
 fovvife a man; when, judge, gentle reader, of 
 my furprife, to perceive his features gradually 
 relaxing into a fmile as I went on, and, by the 
 time I had made an end of my enthufiafKc ef- 
 fufion, his fides actually began to make. Upon 
 inquiring into the caufe of a^mii th fo mortify- 
 ing to my pride, he gave me to understand, as 
 foon as his countenance had recovered its ac- 
 cuftomed compofure, that my fentiments upon 
 the fubjeft in queftion were exceedingly obfo- 
 Jete, and that the path to poetical celebrity was 
 very different now from what it had been. 
 Surprifed at this intelligence, I begged the fa- 
 vour of him to make me acquainted with the 
 new way ; that, if I found it paflable by me, 
 J might flrike into it, or, if not, might at leaft
 
 ('57 ') 
 
 cfcape the vexation of unavailing efforts in ar> 
 erroneous dire&ion. He replied, that, having 
 been confulted upon the fame fubje6l by many 
 befides myfelf, he had been at the pains ttxlraw 
 tiphis inftruclions in the form of a poem, which 
 it had been his intention to publifh, but that 
 the indolence of his riature had hitherto fuffer- 
 ed it to lie quietly in his fcrutoire. On my 
 teftifying an eager curiofity to fee it, he oblig- 
 ingly put it into my hand. Having read it 
 through, which I did in his prefence, and ac- 
 knowledged the complete correction my mif- 
 takes had received from it, I could not avoid 
 expreffing my regret that he (liould have locked 
 up fo much ufeful light ; and earneftly intreat- 
 cd him, inflead of burying it any longer in his 
 drawer, like a lamp in a fepulchre, to fuffer its 
 " diredive ray*" to ftreani forth upon the 
 path of all benighted travellers in fearch of 
 ua \l 
 
 * Thomfon.
 
 poetic fame. To this he anfwered, that hq 
 was too idle to give himfelf any farther trouble 
 about it ; that, if I thought it worth my ac- 
 ceptance, I was heartily welcome to it, and 
 might do with it what I pleafed. For the ufe 
 I have made of it, I flatter myfelf that I am 
 entitled to the warmeft thanks of all inexperi- 
 enced ftudents of the tuneful art, who may be 
 in danger of throwing away their time in ro- 
 mantic afpirations after the " mens divinior *" 
 and " os magna fonaturum*," fo totally un- 
 peceflary to their fuccefs. 
 
 * Horace 
 
 ilsm8 
 
 - 
 
 ilolitf 
 no'sbfoDoT 
 
 ,i>nA 
 
 : : .
 
 THE 
 
 fens 
 
 ART OF POETRY. 
 
 DOST thou afpire to Fame's high fane to climb-, 
 And win the fteep afcent by favour'd rhime ? 
 Awhile thy bold, ambitious footfteps May, 
 And learn from Wifdom's bearded lips the way. 
 
 To win the awful CRITIC'S learned praife, 
 This fundamental law muft guide the lays : 
 Let letter'd Toil her finews chiefly flrain, 
 Faults to efcape, not beauties to attain. 
 Small is their number who can tafte delight 
 In flrength of genius and exalted wit. 
 Moft critics, a phlegmatic, icy race, 
 To cold corre&nefs give perfection's place ; 
 And, when the Nine a prophet's rage infpire, 
 Shrink from the blaze, as fifties fhrink from fire.
 
 &6d ART OF POETRY. 
 
 By them the page with higheft laud is crown'd 
 Where feweft#ains, not brighteft tints, are found: 
 Nor can they fee the frtiallefl lack of merit 
 In him, whofe only fault is want of fpirit. 
 Carelefs of raptures then, corre&ly write : 
 The dulleft work, if well revis'd, is wit. 
 Like mother-brutes, long leaning o'er their young* 
 With* neck curv'd backward, and with plaflic 
 
 tongue, 
 
 Whofe lambent touches gently ftroke their hairs, 
 Till foft a$ filk each lubric hide appears ; 
 Fond turning back, let claflic Labour lie 
 Reclining o'er her cub, and long apply 
 Her patient love in licking every line, 
 Till all lie roundly fmooth, and in full fleeknefs 
 
 fliine. 
 i^; 
 
 Would'ft thou the SENTIMENTAL tribes en- 
 gage, 
 
 To hang enchanted o'er thy magic page ; !OW 
 Although thy fecret foul fhould dance and fing, 
 Blithe as the birds whofe notes falnte the fpring j 
 
 * ** iflam fcrcfi cervice rcflcxam 
 
 MolCefe alternos, e( corpora fingere lingua. VIRG.
 
 ART OF POETS.V. 
 
 Though at thy fide mirth's fportful goddefs (lands* 
 Along with Nature (houts and claps her hands, 
 And, breathing all her deity, fupplies 
 Jefts to thy lips, and laughter to thine eyes; 
 Although, the merrieft of the Mufe's fons, 
 Thou fmg the livelieft catch to Oxford's gowns ! 
 Or dance at Baiar, gayeft of the gay ; 
 Yet, when you write, let forrows {hade the lay ! 
 Still, in your fong, a deep dejection wear ; 
 Difmifs each fmile, and pour the tuneful tear : 
 Appear fome wretch, whom cruel flars purfue, 
 Whom Peace and Joy have bad a long adieu : 
 As deep Defpair had breath'd it, let the ftrainy 
 In each fmooth line, harmonioufly complain. 
 Oh ! nought fo moving as the bard who tells 
 Of fome deep wound his ftricken bofom feels i 
 (Unfeen the roundnefs of his profperous face, 
 Its fleek contentment, and vermilion grace), 
 Who, in his lines that queruloufly flow, 
 Wears th.e pale look of interefting woe \ 
 And feems, from tile keen throbbings of his gr5ef r 
 To feek, in lenient fong, a foft relief ! 
 W T ho tells you not, by what peculiar ftroke 
 Of ftern Adverfity, his peace is broke ;
 
 i&5 ART Of 
 
 But darkly fings of undefin'd diftrefs, 
 
 That leaves quick Fancy ample fcope to gucfe, 
 
 And the drear blank of mifery to fill 
 
 With (hapes arid hues as difmal as (he will ! 
 
 Let others, as their changing moods mfpire* 
 
 With alter'd fingers fweep the various lyre; 
 
 Thou never ceafe the mournful note to pour, 
 
 Sweet to the lover of the melting hour ; 
 
 Who footh'd (hall hail thee, as thy lines he reads, 
 
 The Philomela of the letter'd (hades ! 
 
 Learn neit, if ears POLITE you burn to gairij 
 What canons mull direct, th' obedient ilrain. 
 
 Let Fancy all her loftier flights forbear* 
 And each minuter beauty make her care. 
 The courtly reader's finely ftruc~rur'd eye 
 Sees only coarfenefs in fublimity : 
 And, all too weak e'en Beauty's form to gafce, 
 Let's fairy Prettinefs ufurp her praife. 
 Like a trim garden (hould thy fong appear, 
 Nought great or bold muft find admiffion there : 
 No forefts fwell, no mountains pierce the fky, 
 No giant-fcenes imprefs with awe the eye,
 
 ART OF POETRY. 
 
 But little flowers in nicefr. order grow, 
 O'er neat parterres, a blooming rarecfiiow ! 
 And flatteft plots of iliorteft grafs be feen, 
 Smooth as the velvet's fur each downy green ; 
 Where Toil has all her proofs of patience fhown, 
 How oft her hand the level plain has mown 
 Anddragg'd her lumbering roller up and down 
 
 wn,-v 
 
 J 
 
 n. ' 
 
 Paflibn be fare avoid : rlo gentle ear 
 The fhock of aught fo boiflterous knows to bear. 
 Would'ft thou the truly poiifh'd reader pleafe, 
 Let him perufe you at his "Dtrnoft eafe. 
 No biirfts of ecflafy muft break his reft ; 
 Rude is the mufe that agitates his breaft : 
 His placid foul let all your lays compofe ; 
 Oh ! ne'er fo roughly ufe him, as to roufe ! 
 One peaceful tenour rriuft the numbers keep, 
 And fweetly lull him into claflic fleep. 
 Stirr'd by no gufts, let all the unruffled lay, 
 In eafy flow, purfue its quiet way : 
 Soft, foothing thoughts ferenely roll along, 
 In glib and elegantly languid fong : 
 Ne'er muft the headlong dream impetuous pour, 
 Ne'er with the torrent's thundenhg fury roar ; 
 T
 
 Without sps wrinkle in the poliOi'd tidfe, q nO 
 
 <aiiirsft >iri;:icd ( iooy i LnA 
 
 Bleft is the bard, when Wifdom's prompting 
 
 2 . duot 8^ o, it jsri W 
 
 To an aufpicious fubjeft guides his choice. 
 The courtly favour heds its warmeft beam 
 On him whofe mufe feleds the eoldejl thernc^^ 
 .Where, like a winter's fun, refulgent wit ,^ 
 Flings o'er the frofty page a lifelefs light. 
 Oh ! fmg not thou, in animated lays, 
 Immortal Truth's, or radiant Virtue's, praife ! 
 Such ardent fplendours dart a fcorching ray, 
 To tender fight intolerable day ! 
 In thy more cajm and gelid verfe, be fliown 
 The mineral glories of a fparkling STON? ! 
 Or, if thy Mufe the foft ambition move, 
 To fing, in melting lays, the fires of love ; 
 Paint not thofe flames, in human hearts that rag, 
 And' furious war with Peace and Reafon wage ; 
 Such fires as prey'd on burning Sappho's reft, 
 Or. fiercely glow'd in loifa's breaft : 3 3ij7 
 
 Nor let thy mufe attempt the feather'd loves ; 
 Too hot a theme ' the paffcon of the groves ;"
 
 ART OF POETRY. 265 
 
 r, in a yet more temperate lay/ 1 ^S 
 On 'purer fexual joys her powers effay ; 
 And fagely tell, in cool, botanic drains, 
 *' The amorous tumults in a POPPY'S veins*!" 
 What though Come few there are, whofe Fouls of 
 
 fire 
 
 Afk generous frenfies of the heavenly lyre ; 
 Among the flowers, at Fancy's call that rife, 
 Who View her fnow-drops with difdainful eyes ; 
 The pallid leaf whofe fcornful lips accufe, 
 As little good for pleafure or for ule ; 
 
 * In reading the manufcript in the pretence of fir Simon, when 
 I came to this paffage, I took the liberty of objecting to it, tliar, 
 although the fubjeft of the poem, to which he here alluded, was 
 certainly chofen with extraordinary felicity (if the preyailing-tafte 
 in poetry were fuch as he reprefented it), yet that the learned and 
 ingenious author of it appeared to me to have corrupted the purify 
 of difpaflionate fong, and difturbed the ferenity of the fashionable. 
 reader, by an uncommon portion of the bafe alloy of pathos and 
 poetic fire. Sir Simon affented to the jiiftice of my obje'<tion j 
 and acknowledged that lie was far from confidering that admired 
 performance as a model of the fomniferous poetry, believing that 
 no one who had taken it up had been able to enjoy a quiet nap 
 over it,, on account of the continual recurrence in it of ftimulating 
 paffages of a fingularly pungent nature j and that it was merely 
 the confummate and matchlefs excellence of ihefuljeS which mc- 
 lited to be propofed as an object of emulation to the modctn bard, 
 Net* ly tht Edit*. 
 

 
 66 ART OF POETRY. 
 
 And fcarce the icy blofibms deign to call, 
 Such glowlefs things they think 'em, flow'rs at all 
 Yielding no raptures or to fight or fmell, 
 Norwich in fweets to ftore the honied cell, 
 Round which the vernal bee fuccefslefs flies^ 
 
 jrt-JO 4 ! 
 
 And joylefs leaves with light, unloaded thighs ? 
 Yet heed not thou fuch critics' heated dreams, 
 
 Who rave of beauties born of burning themes ; 
 . 
 While polim'd crowds, with chatter tafte, require 
 
 . 
 A placid fong, and innocent of fire. 
 
 Let others pant beneath the claffic line* 
 Where fierce Apollo's fultry glories (hine ; 
 Thou hot Parnaffus' fun-burnt fummit quit, 
 And woo the Mufe that reigns o'er cooler wit ; 
 The Mufe that, all Diana-like, retreats 
 To fliady founts that fhun the fummer-heats; 
 Where a refrefhing chilnefs reigns around, 
 And not one gkam of warmth profanes the fri 
 
 , 
 
 & >; jO 
 
 To thee thy Mufe (hall affluent laurels bring, 
 If up {he mount on ntfithematic wing. 
 Faftidlous Surfeit, tir'd of one dull round& wfc bit A 
 Where only imiling ihapes are to be foun^W arff 
 
 T
 
 
 
 ART OF POETRY. 367 
 
 Delights to fee the fweet, harmonious art, 
 A grace to forms, devoid of grace, impart, 
 Suit technic knowledge to the polifh'd throng, 
 Make plaineifc arts look liberal in fong, 
 Poetic hues on things profaic lay, 
 And bend rebellious themes to Beauty's fway. 
 Let not the landicape's gay and bloomy fcene 
 Wear, in thy lines, the lovely robe of green ; 
 Nor be the crimfon pomp of morn thy theme, 
 Nor mellow languish of the lunar beam ; 
 Nor youthful freflinefs of love-kindling May, 
 Nor yellow charms that deck the year's decay : 
 From all the forms of Fair avert thy mufe ; 
 Without the world of Grace an image chufe ; 
 On that thy powers of decoration try, 
 And abfent Venus, in thy fong, fupply. 
 With clear defeription let the labouring ftrain 
 Some curious engine curioufly explain ! 
 Or, 'bove all other names thy name to raife, 
 And heat to ecftafy the reader's praife, 
 Sweep with a daring hand the founding firing, 
 And the MECHANIC POWERS fublimely fingt 
 The Wheel and Axis tunefully difplay ! 
 Balance the Lever in the fteady lay !
 
 a'djl. AftY OF POETRY. 
 
 SbSrlMg TO heights no mufe before e'er 
 Paint the retentive vigour of the Screw 
 dPfe^bfcurer workings of the Wedge r 
 And bid the Pulley lift its weights in verfe ! 
 Or elfe refound, with, yet diviner rage, 
 Some complex diagram from Euclid's page ! 
 Sheath in mellifluent lines the corner'd fquarcs,. 
 
 That the {harp angles may not hurt our ears : 
 
 ' :~n/Y 
 Sleek prickly Science o'er with filken phrafe, 
 
 Clothe all her points in foft alluring lays, 
 And fliow, how Mufic's fweetly winning pow'r 
 " Smooths till it fmiles" the moft ungracious lore ! 
 
 ' 1 5*' 
 Wpuld'ft thou to a yet prouder fummit raife 
 
 The foft renown of unimpaflion'd lays, .. 
 
 Bid the bold, fren.fy .of BLJRKE'S ireful page, 
 
 'DIfO 
 
 Lull'd in thy mollient rhimes, forget to rage. ! 
 
 'j sA 
 With notes, whofe magic rivals Orpheus' fame, 
 
 His^yigorous rhetoric's tiger-fiercenefs tame*! ^ 
 Their fnakes foft hiffing, let the Furies wear, 
 
 In thy meek verfe, a mild and lamb-like air ! 
 * ciwirfij 8 * fnbl on A 
 
 There, let the dogs of war attune their throat, 
 And bark for blood, with fmall and puppy note! 
 
 '""'* Mulccntem t'grcs.
 
 ART O*' POETRY, 369 
 
 Like *Bottom, child-of Shakefpear's mirthful art, 
 Like gentle Bottom, play the lion's part ! 
 And, left the found the ladies' hearts fhould quail, 
 Roar like " a fucking dove," or warbling nightin- 
 gale! 
 
 If thy bold mufe be bent to lend fome zeft 
 To ftrains that lull the flumber-loving bread, 
 Ambitious ftill to prove, how fvveetly chimes 
 Phrenetic zeal with calm and harmlefs rhimes, 
 A furious war let wild, polemic Rage 
 With all the letter'd friends of Freedom wage : 
 And with a fchoolboy's hand, and bigot's fire, 
 Strike the deep grumblings of thine angry lyre f ! 
 In lowlieft verfe, that humbly creeps along, 
 Nor once afpires to flight, a reptile fong ; 
 Such groveling, fpringlefs, unexulting lines, 
 As court a modeft fame in magazines ; 
 
 T- V- ' . . , e i t r 
 
 Emit a copious tide of rank abufe : 
 
 * 
 
 With venom arm thy wing-unfurnifh'd mufe : 
 Give to the worm of wit the ferpent's gall, 
 And let it hifs, and bite, as well as crawl. 
 
 1 J3l t flT!9fiT 
 
 Midfummer Night's Dream. 
 
 "-:. rooMiol^udbnA 
 f And with a matter's hand and prophet's fire 
 
 Struck the deep forrows of his lyre, . GRAY,
 
 270 . ART OF POETRY. 
 
 Ten thoufands deem, no quill can e'er fupply 
 So fweet an eloquence as calumny ! 
 No grace, like foul reproach, adorns a page ; 
 And party, far exceeds poetic rage ! 
 Then be the bays, that round thy brows are worn, 
 A wreath of poppies mixt with prickly thorn ! 
 As artful cooks compofe a favoury difh, 
 By fauce's aid, of taftelefs eggs and fim. 
 Strong cenfure feafons thus infipid lays, 
 Pricks the dull tafte, and fpurs it into praifc ! 
 Thou, in this Lent of fong, a verfe prepare, 
 In acrids rich, of genial flavours fpare : 
 With rancour's fpice, the mental palate hit, 
 A feaft of fcandal 'midft a faft of wit. 
 And (for Iqng rhimes fatigue a coftive brain) 
 Of fmall dimenfion be the meager drain ; 
 While ampleft notes, with fwelling drapery, 
 Drefs the lean fong, and plumper fize fupply : 
 Let Greek and Latin, proudly fcatter'd there, 
 In learned pomp, to charm the fchools, appear: 
 That e'en thy foes may own, in anger's fpite, 
 Thou haft a power to read, if not to write. 
 Laft, as the mafter-ftroke to win thee fame, 
 }n cloud apd darknefs veil thine awful name !
 
 ART OF POETRY. 2Jf 
 
 Thatthou, likefhrouded Junius, may 'ft he fought, 
 Proclaim, like Junius, none lhall find thee out 
 Though in all elfe unlike, with him defy, 
 And, by defying, draw, the curious eye! 
 Thus may a homely Mufe, that lufts to gain 
 The Public's love, with " cheeks of forry grain*," 
 Force fome fmall notice of her, if (he try 
 This wily trick of letter'd coquetry. 
 So, void of beauty's lure, the ruftic maid 
 Pierces, compell'd to fhifts, the thicket's fhade; 
 And, to provoke the fwains to amorous chafe, 
 Tells them they ne'er fhall find her hiding- place. 
 Thus, though thy page ere no " lofty rhime," 
 At leaft thy perfon may become fublime. 
 Sublimity, as critic pens have (hovvn, 
 Of folemn fhadows loves to frame her throne : 
 What moves but laughter, when to view unvcil'd. 
 Oft ftrikes with awe, or wonder, while concealed: 
 Screen'd by the wainfcot, e'en a fcratching moufe 
 JVJay fpread alarm throughout a coward houfe: 
 E'en {lumbering, eaftern kingshave pafs'd for great, 
 Lolling, invifible, in pillow 'd fhte: 
 And, thus, in thee fhall grand cffe& be found. 
 Wrapt with the majefty of myftery round. 
 * Comus.
 
 AfcY OF POETRY, 
 
 But if; Without the aid of wrathful fiwCterf? oH 
 To roufe the placid tribe, thy mufe afpiiifti} fk.M 
 One only way there is, in which your attM airi ni 
 May fweetly agitate the gentle heart : >HW 
 
 E'en liftlefs fair ones fhall from languor wak&/l 
 And o'er the lines with pleafing terror fhake, 
 If there the lovely tremblers may perufe 
 The harm, coarfe horror of a GERMAN rnufe. 
 Let hideous Superftition frame the bafe, ;;fW 
 On which the wildly difmal tale you raife : 
 Let ghaftli^ft forrhs, pale ghofts, and goblins grim, 
 Form of your verfe the terrible fublime ! 
 Paint the dire fkeleton, uncloth'd with fkin, woH 
 With grave-worms crawling .out and crawling in. 1 
 All hell's red torches in the numbers ihine, 
 And fiends on horfeback gallop through the linsiT 
 MW*- iinoD 
 
 Befides fuperior Ikill in framing lays, 
 
 Where beauties, of this pleafing luftre, b 
 
 To help the fong and make its charm completej^g 
 
 Miift various other excellencies meet. ..{[W 
 
 , rijoo) r-3 r rr rlodW 
 
 Tfefirfrand chief, on which the needy veifcfr 
 Leans for fupport, is excellence of purfi, 
 
 :)& *
 
 AK.T <' POETRY. 273 
 
 He that on letter'd Glory's lift would blaze, 
 Muft firfi be feeu to bafk in Fortune's rays. 
 In his bleft pages countlefs charms confpire, 
 Whofe title-page contains that charm, Efqnrref 
 But if, by kings enrich'd, illuftrious blood 
 Roll through the man of rhime its noble flood, 
 Heav'ns ! in the verfe, what raatchlefs beauty 
 
 glows ! 
 
 What fancy rlafhes ! and what mufic flows 1 
 Alas ! no laurels wait his haplefs lines, 
 In whom no fplendour but of genius {nines ! 
 Fame's lofty fane, like mighty Caefar's hall, 
 How loud foe'er the knock of Merit call, 
 Is clos'd to them a " damag'd coat *" that wear ; 
 " For, ah ! no damag'd coat can enter there*." 
 The laurell'd modern is no garreteer,. 
 Condemn'd to breathe, thro' fra&ur'd panes, the air; 
 Doom'd, for his daily bread, his brains to rack. 
 Want in his face, and meannefs on his.back : 
 Butafleek, filken, powder'd, parlour-bard, 
 Whom fplendid walls from fkies inclement guard; 
 Whofe eafy breaft the fmiling pleafures footh ; 
 Whofe path thro' life is, like his numbers, fmooth : 
 
 "..-.I. . 
 
 * Bcattk's Minftrcl.
 
 owt 
 
 - v .3 T.3A 
 S74" ART OF POETRY. 
 
 A handfomc ftandifh fteeps the favour'd quill, 
 
 That wooes the willing Sifters of the hill ; 
 
 CL v8 
 With ready ileps the tuneful ladies come, 
 
 Proud to be afk'd into fo fine a room I 
 Nor verdant Pin4us, nor Parnaffvis' (hades, 
 Nor Aganippe's fount, delay the maids. 
 While their trim votary builds his lofty rtumes, 
 An elegant undrefs adorns his limbs ! 
 Acrofs a fumptuous carpet's flowery pride, 
 When fwol'n with wit, he takes his ampler ftride! 
 Or, while reclin'd he calmly moulds his ftrains, 
 A coftly cleik his penfwe weight fuibins ! 
 While, from his pen as the rich flanzas flow, 
 
 The fparkling words on gilded paper glow ! 
 
 ' 
 
 To^win flie applaufes of the courtly throng, 
 The Prefs muft lend its aid to deck the fong. 
 The printer much improves the poet's praife ; 
 
 Ail'^ fu're th'e flationer fhoulcl fhare the bays. 
 
 ^.^.^ ...^ .... 
 A beauteous 'fhape when air the letters wear, 
 
 A-lore beauteous flill the words and thoughts ap- 
 
 -3te; . . ud J^J 
 
 pear : 
 
 A J 1^:^ 'i r 
 
 And when fine writing and fine paper join, 
 Each reader Seems the writing' fuper-fine !
 
 ART OF POETRY. 
 
 two fenfes ; (fages fayj together bleft, . 
 Lend to each other's joys a livelier zeft : 
 By Delia's fide if Strephon fcent a rofe^ 
 He thinks her cheek with lovelier bluflies glows ! 
 While at the feftive board he taftes the wine, 
 Who owns not Dignum's feftive notes divine ? 
 Each fchoolboy relifhes that apple bed, 
 Which to his eye prefents the ruddied breaft ; 
 And, when all o'er with golden furface fpread, 
 With double glee devours his gingerbread. 
 So when a comely print regales the fight, 
 The ear receives from verfe increas'd delight, 
 More fmoothly feems to flow the fmoothefl fong, 
 When o'er fmooth leaves the numbers flide along; 
 While rough and rumbling runs the haplefs lay, 
 That holds, through coarfer fheets, its rugged 
 way. 
 
 T* enfure the piece, on fplendid (helves, a place, 
 The beauteous numbers beauteous/>Artmuft grace. 
 Clear is the path to each politer heart, 
 Let but the graver's back the poet's art : 
 For when the pen and ftyle their flrokes unite, 
 Who can withftand the rich, the full delight ?
 
 ART OF POETRY. 
 
 ) % one lone art, your wit to fhow, 
 When you can ufe the utterance of two. 
 Tis not enotigh, the poet's pi&ures rife, 
 By language colour 'd, to the mental eyes; 
 Each ; ftger bard, to a'fd the Mufe's voicfc^ b 
 Her filer* fitter 's doqiiehce employs. 
 When his bright dreams hate firft eflay'd to find, 
 By words, a paffage to the reader's mind, 
 ieft at that entrance they fhould not get in, 
 That they another way may- haply win, 
 A form more palpable the vifions wear, 
 And to the raptur'd eye of fenfe appear ! 
 So, in the pretty books, whofe gilded lid 
 Rewards good boys. who do as they are bid, 
 Soon as each little tale, by letters' aid* 
 The hero's worth has happily pourtray'd, 
 As happily, his anfwering perfon, put, 
 Clofe by the letter'd portrait, in a cut, 
 With upright ftate, and fpruce tbree-corner'd hat, 
 Pops on the eye, all opportune and pat ! 
 " See, here he is !" the Mufe of hiftory cries: 
 Tha infant fcholar feels his raptures rife ! 
 And, pleas'd from letters to obtain releafe, 
 His glistening eyes long faften' on the piece.
 
 ART OF POETRY. 277 
 
 When all the fculptor's magic art is fliown, 
 And life feems breathing in the mimic ftone, 
 When each fmooth limb with juft proportion 
 
 fwells, 
 
 And beauty's felf in each fweet feature dwells, 
 Though to fome temperate and abftemious eyes 
 The chiffel's toil an ample feaft fupplies, 
 Yet who fhall count the numbers who opine, 
 Imperfet is the ftatue's faultlefs line, 
 And, if 'twere painted, 'twould be twice as fine 
 
 THE END, 

 
 ERRATA, 
 
 age.r$ line 8; for fen/tve, 
 
 1 6, 12, for bled, read bleed. 
 
 75, -15, for charms, r 
 
 94, 4, for htart, reaJ art, 
 
 ror, laft, lot fall, read/a/C. 
 
 n<S f 22, for and, read to 
 
 aJj if dele f6/oa.
 
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